CO

IS

CVJ

100

THE EUROPEAN LIBRARY

EDITED BY J. E. SPINGARN

THE PATRIOTLLR

BY

HLINRICH MANN

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LRNL5T BOYD

NEW YORK

HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY

1921

COPYRIGHT, IQ2I, BY HARCOURT, BRACK AND COMPANY, INC.

PRINTED IN THE U S A. BY

THK QUINN ft BODEN COMPANY

RAHWAY. N J

THE PATRIOTEER

THE PATRIOTEER

DIEDERICH HESSLING was a dreamy, delicate child, frightened of everything, and troubled with constant earache. In winter he hated to leave the warm room, and in summer the narrow garden, which smelt of rags from the paper factory, and whose laburnum and elder-trees were overshadowed by the wooden roofs of the old houses. Diederich was often terribly afraid when he raised his eyes from his story book, his beloved fairy tales. A toad half as big as himself had been plainly sitting on the seat beside him! Or over there against the wall a gnome, sunk to his waist in the ground, was staring at him! His father was even more terrible than the gnome and the toad, and moreover he was compelled to love him. Diederich did love him. Whenever he had pilfered, or told a lie, he would come cringing shyly like a dog to his father's desk, until Herr Hessling noticed that something was wrong and took his stick from the wall. Diederich's submissiveness and confidence were shaken by doubts so long as any misdeed remained un- discovered. Once when his father, who had a stiff leg, fell downstairs the boy clapped his hands madly — and then ran away at full speed.

The workmen used to laugh when he passed the workshops after having been punished, crying loudly, his face swollen with tears. Then Diederich would stamp his feet and put out his tongue at them. He would say to himself: "I have got a beating, but from my papa. You would be glad to be beater by him, but you are not good enough for that."

He moved amongst the men like a capricious potentate.

3

4 THE PATRIOTEER

Sometimes he would threaten to tell his father that they were bringing in beer, and at others he would coquettishly allow them to wheedle out of him the hour when Herr Hessling was expected to return. They were on their guard against the boss ; he knew them, for he had been a workman himself. He had been a vat-man in the old mills where every sheet of paper was made by hand. During that time he had served in all the wars, and after the last one, when everybody made money, he was able to buy a paper machine. His plant consisted of one cylinder machine and one cutter. He himself counted the sheets. He kept his eye on the buttons which were taken from the rags. His little son often used to accept a few from the women, on condition that he did not tell on those who took some away with them. One day he had collected so many that he got the idea of exchanging them with the grocer for sweets. He succeeded — but in the evening Diederich knelt in his bed and, as he swallowed the last piece of barley sugar, he prayed to Almighty God to leave the crime undetected. He nevertheless allowed it to leak out. His father had always used the stick methodically, his weather-beaten face reflecting an old soldier's sense of honour and duty. This time his hand trembled and a tear rolled down, trickling over the wrinkles, onto one side of his grey upturned moustache. "My son is a thief," he said breathlessly, in a hushed voice, and he stared at the child as if he were a suspicious intruder. "You lie and you steal. All you have to do now is to commit a murder."

Frau Hessling tried to compel Diederich to fall on his knees before his father and beg his pardon, because his father had wept on his account. Diederich's instinct, however, warned him that this would only have made his father more angry. Hessling had no sympathy whatever with his wife's sentimental manner. She was spoiling the child for life. Besides he had caught her lying just like little Diederich. No wonder, for she read novels! By Saturday night her week's work was often not completed. She gossiped with the servant instead of exert-

THE PATRIOTEER 5

ing herself. . . . And even then Hessling did not know that his wife also pilfered, just like the child. At table she did not dare to eat enough and she crept surreptitiously to the cup- board. Had she dared to go into the workshop she would also have stolen buttons.

She prayed with the child "from the heart," and not accord- ing to the prescribed forms, and that always brought a flush to her face. She used to beat him also and gave him thorough thrashings, consumed with a desire for revenge. On such oc- casions she was frequently in the wrong, and then Diederich threatened to complain to his father. He would pretend to go into the office and, hiding somewhere behind a wall, would re- joice at her terror. He exploited his mother's tender moods, but felt no respect for her. Her resemblance to himself made that impossible, for he had no self-respect. The consequence was that he went through life with a conscience too uneasy to withstand the scrutiny of God.

Nevertheless mother and son spent twilight hours over- flowing with sentiment. From festive occasions they jointly extracted the last drop of emotion by means of singing, piano- playing and story-telling. When Diederich began to have doubts about the Christ Child he let his mother persuade him to go on believing a little while longer, and thereby he felt re- lieved, faithful and good. He also believed obstinately in a ghost up in the Castle, and his father, who would not hear of such a thing, seemed too proud, and almost deserving of pun- ishment. His mother nourished him with fairy tales. She shared with him her fear of the new, animated streets, and of the tramway which crossed them and took him past the city wall towards the Castle, where they enjoyed delightful thrills. At the corner of Meisestrasse you had to pass a policeman, who could take you off to prison if he liked. Diederich's heart beat nervously. How gladly he would have made a detour! But then the policeman would have noticed his uneasy con- science and have seized him. It was much better to prove that

6 THE PATRIOTEER

one felt pure and innocent — so with trembling voice Diederich asked the policeman the time.

After so many fearful powers, to which he was subjected; his father, God, the ghost of the Castle and the police; after the chimney-sweep, who could slip him right up through the flue until he, too, was quite black, and the doctor, who could paint his throat and shake him when he cried — after all these powers, Diederich now fell under the sway of one even more terrible, which swallowed you up completely — the school. Diederich went there howling, and because he wanted to howl he could not give even the answers which he knew. Gradually he learnt how to exploit this tendency to cry whenever he had not learnt his lessons, for all his fears did not make him more indus- trious or less dreamy. And thus, until the teachers saw through the trick, he was able to avoid many of the evil consequences of his idleness. The first teacher who saw through it, at once earned his wholehearted respect. He suddenly stopped crying and gazed at him over the arm which he was holding bent in front of his face, full of timid devotion. Hejwas always obe- dient and docile with the strict teachers. On the good-natured ones he played little tricks, which could with difficulty be proved against him and about which he did not boast. With much greater satisfaction he bragged of getting bad marks and great punishments. At table he would say: "To-day Herr Behnke flogged three of us again." And to the question: Whom? "I was one of them."

Diederich was so constituted that he was delighted to be- long to an impersonal entity, to this immovable, inhumanly in- MJ^ Different, mechanical organisation which was the college. He was proud of this power, this grim power, which he felt, if only through suffering. On the headmaster's birthday flowers were placed on the desk and the blackboard. Diederich ac- tually decorated the cane.

In the course of the years two catastrophes, which befell the all-powerful, filled him with a holy and wonderful horror. An

THE PATRIOTEER 7

assistant master was called down in front of the class by the principal and dismissed. A senior master became insane. On these occasions still higher powers, the principal and the luna- tic asylum, made fearful havoc of those who had hitherto wielded so much power. From beneath, insignificant but un- harmed, one could raise one's eyes to these victims, and draw from their fate a lesson which rendered one's own lot more easy. In relation to his younger sisters Diederich replaced the power which held him in its mechanism. He made them take dictation, and deliberately make more mistakes than they nat- urally would, so that he could make furious corrections with red ink, and administer punishment. His punishments were cruel. The little ones cried — and then Diederich had to humble himself in order that they should not betray him.

He had no need of human beings in order to imitate the powers that be. Animals, and even inanimate objects, were sufficient. He would stand at the rail of the paper-making machine and watch the cylinder sorting out the rags. "So that one is gone! Look out, now, you blackguards!" Diederich would mutter, and his pale eyes glared. Suddenly he stepped back, almost falling into the tub of chlorine. A workman's footsteps had interrupted his vicious enjoyment.

received the punishment did he feel

really big and sure of his position. He hardly ever resisted evil. At most he would beg a comrade: "Don't hit me on the back, that's dangerous." It was not that he was lacking in any sense of his rights and any love of his own advantage. /'I6ut Diederich held that the blows which he received brought xno practical profit to the striker and no real loss to himself. These purely ideal values seemed to him far less serious than the cream puff which the head waiter at the Netziger Hof had long since promised him, but had never produced. Many times Diederich wended his way, with earnest gait, up Meise- strasse to the market place, and called upon his swallow-tailed friend to deliver the goods. One day, however, when the

8 THE PATRIOTEER

waiter denied all knowledge of his promise, Diederich declared, as he stamped his foot in genuine indignation: "This is really too much of a good thing. If you don't give me it immediately, I'll report you to the boss!" Thereupon George laughed and brought him the cream puff.

That was a tangible success. Unfortunately Diederich could enjoy it only in haste and fear, for he was afraid that Wolf- gang Buck, who was waiting outside, would come in on him and demand the share which had been promised to him. Mean- while he found time to wipe his mouth clean, and at the door he broke out into violent abuse of George, whom he called a swindler who had no cream puffs at all. Diederich's sense of justice, which had just manifested itself so effectively to his own advantage, did not respond to the claims of his friend, who could not, at the same time, be altogether ignored. Wolf- gang's father was much too important a personage for that. Old Herr Buck did not wear a stiff collar, but a white silk neckcloth, on which his great curly white beard rested. How slowly and majestically he tapped the pavement with his gold- topped walking-stick! He wore a silk hat, too, and the tails of his dress coat often peeped out under his overcoat, even in the middle of the day! For he went to public meetings, and looked after the affairs of the whole city. Looking at the bathing establishment, the prison and all the public institu- tions, Diederich used to think: "That belongs to Herr Buck." He must be tremendously wealthy and powerful. All the men, including Herr Hessling, took off their hats most respectfully to him. To deprive his son of something by force was a deed whose dangerous consequences could not be foretold. In or- der not to be utterly crushed by the mighty powers, whom he so profoundly respected, Diederich had to go quietly and craft- ily to work.

Only once did it happen, when he was in the Lower Third form, that Diederich forgot all prudence, acted blindly and be- came himself an oppressor, drunk with victory. As was the

THE PATRIOTEER 9

usual and approved custom, he had bullied the only Jew in his class, but then he proceeded to an unfamiliar manifestation. Out of the blocks which were used for drawing he built a cross on the desk and forced the Jew onto his knees before it. He held him tight, in spite of his resistance; he was strong! What made Diederich strong was the applause of the by- standers, the crowd whose arms helped him, the overwhelming majority within the building and in the world outside. He was acting on behalf of the whole Christian community of Netzig. How splendid it was to share responsibility, and to feel the sensation of collective consciousness.

When the first flush of intoxication had waned, it is true, a certain fear took its place, but all his courage returned to Diederich when he saw the face of the first master he met. It was so full of embarrassed good will. Others openly showed their approval. Diederich smiled up at them with an air of shy understanding. Things were easier for him after that. The class could not refuse to honour one who enjoyed the favour of the headmaster. Under him Diederich rose to the head of the class and secretly acted as monitor. At least, he laid claim, later on, to the latter of these honours also. He was a good friend to all, laughed when they planned their escapades, an unreserved and hearty laugh, as befitted an earnest youth who could yet understand frivolity — and then, during the lunch hour, when he brought his notebook to the professor, he reported everything. He also reported the nicknames of the teachers and the rebellious speeches which had been made against them. In repeating these things his voice trembled with something of the voluptuous terror which he had experi- enced as he listened to them with half-closed eyes. Whenever there was any disparaging comment on the ruling powers he had a guilty feeling of relief, as if something deep down in him- self, like a kind of hatred, had hastily and furtively satisfied its hunger. JByjmeaking on his comrades he atoned for his own guilty impulses.

io THE PATRIOTEER

For the most part he had no personal feeling against the pupils whose advancement was checked by his activities. He acted as the conscientious instrument of dire necessity. After- wards he could go to the culprit and quite honestly sympathise with him. Once he was instrumental in catching some one who had been suspected of copying. With the knowledge of the teacher, Diederich gave him a mathematical problem, the working out of which was deliberately wrong, while the final result was correct. That evening, after the cheater had been exposed, some of the students were sitting in the garden of a restaurant outside the gate singing, as they were allowed to do after gymnasium. Diederich had taken a seat beside his victim. Once, when they had emptied their glasses he slipped his right hand into that of his companion, gazed trustfully into his eyes, and began all alone to sing in a bass voice that quiv- ered with emotion:

"Ich hatt' einen Kameraden, Einen bessern findst du nit. . . ."

For the rest, with increasing school experience he could make a good show in most subjects, without going beyond what was required of him in any one, or learning anything in the world which was not prescribed in the programme. German com- position was his most difficult subject, and any one who ex- celled at it inspired him with an inexplicable mistrust.

Since he had been promoted to the highest class his matricu- lation was certain, and his father and teachers felt that he ought to continue his studies. Old Hessling, having marched through the Brandenburger Tor in 1866 and 1871, decided to send Diederich to Berlin.

As he did not care to venture far from the neighbourhood of Friederichstrasse he rented a room up in Tieckstrasse, so that he had only to walk straight down and could not miss the University. As he had nothing else to do, he went there twice a day, and in the intervals he often wept from homesickness.

THE PATRIOTEER n

He wrote a letter to his father and mother thanking them for his happy childhood. He seldom went out unless he had to. He scarcely dared to eat; he was afraid to spend his money before the end of the month, and he would constantly feel his pocket to see if it was still there.

Lonely as he felt, he still did not go to Blucherstrasse with his father's letter to Herr Goppel, the cellulose manufacturer, who came from Netzig and also did business with Hessling. He overcame his shyness on the fourth Sunday, and hardly had the stout red-faced man, whom he had so often seen in his father's office, waddled up to meet him than Diederich won- dered why he had not come sooner. Herr Goppel immediately asked after everybody in Netzig, but especially old Buck. Although his beard was now grey he still respected old Buck as he had done when he was a boy like Diederich, only it was for different reasons. He took off his hat to such a man, one of those whom the German people should esteem more highly than certain persons whose favountej^medy was blood and iron, for which the nation had to pay so dearly. Old Buck was a Forty Eighter, and had actually been condemned to death. "It is to such people as old Buck," said Herr Goppel, "that we owe the privilege of sitting here as free men." And, as he opened another bottle of beer: "nowadays we are expected to let our- selves be trampled on with jackboots. . . ."

Herr Goppel confessed himself a liberal opponent of Bis- marck's. Diederich agreed with everything that Goppel said: he had no opinion to offer about the Chancellor, the young Em- peror and freedom. Then he became uncomfortable, for a young girl had come into the room, and at the first glance her elegance and beauty frightened him.

"My daughter Agnes," said Herr Goppel.

A lanky youth, in his flowing frock-coat, Diederich stood there, blushing furiously. The girl gave him her hand. No doubt she wanted to be polite, but what could one say to her? Diederich said yes, when she asked him if he liked Berlin ; and

12 THE PATRIOTEER

when she asked if he had been to the theatre yet, he said no. He was perspiring with nervousness, and was firmly convinced that his departure was the only thing which would really in- terest the young lady. But how could he get out of the place? Fortunately a third party stepped into the breach, a burly crea- ture named Mahlmann, who spoke with a loud Mecklenburg accent, seemed to be a student of engineering and to be a lodger at G6ppel's. He reminded Fraulein Agnes of a walk they had arranged to take. Diederich was invited to accompany them. In dismay he pleaded the excuse of an acquaintance who was waiting for him outside and went off at once. "Thank God," he thought, "she has some one," but the thought hurt him.

Herr Goppel opened the door for him in the dark hall and asked if his friend was also new to Berlin. Diederich lied, say- ing his friend was from Berlin. "For if neither of you know the city you will take the wrong bus. No doubt you have often lost yourself already in Berlin." When Diederich ad- mitted it, Herr Goppel seemed satisfied. "Here it is not like in Netzig; you can walk about for half a day. Just fancy when you come from Tieckstrasse here to the Halle Gate you have walked as far as three times through the whole of Netzig. . . . Well now, next Sunday you must come to lunch."

Diederich promised to go. When the time came he would have preferred not to, he went only out of fear of his father. This time he had to undergo a tete-a-tete with the young lady. Diederich behaved as if absorbed in his own affairs and under no obligation to entertain her. She began again to speak about the theatre, but he interrupted her gruffly, saying he had no time for such things. Oh yes, her father had told her that Herr Hessling was studying chemistry.

"Yes. As a matter of fact that is the only science which can justify its existence," Diederich asserted, without exactly knowing what put that idea into his head.

tulein Goppel let her bag fall, but he stooped so reluc- tantly that she had picked it up before he could get to it. In

THE PATRIOTEER 13

spite of that, she thanked him softly and almost shyly. Died- erich was annoyed. "These coquettish women are horrible," he reflected. She was looking for something in her bag.

"Now I have lost it — I mean my sticking-plaster. It is bleeding again."

She unwound her handkerchief from her finger. It looked so much like snow that Diederich thought that the blood on it would sink in.

"I have some plaster," he said with a bow.

He seized her finger, and before she could wipe off the blood, he licked it.

"What on earth are you doing?"

He himself was startled, and wrinkling his brow solemnly he said: "Oh, as a chemist I have to do worse things than that."

She smiled. "Oh yes, of course, you are a sort of doctor. . . . How well you do it," she remarked as she watched him sticking on the plaster.

"There," he said, pushing her hand away and moving back. The air seemed to have become close and he thought: "If it were only possible to avoid touching her skin. It is so disgust- ingly soft." Agnes stared over his head. After a time she tried again: "Haven't we got common relations in Netzig?" She compelled him to go over a few families with her and they discovered a cousin.

"Your mother is still living, isn't she? You should be glad of that. Mine is long since dead. I don't suppose I shall live long either. One has premonitions" — and she smiled sadly and apologetically.

Silently Diederich resolved that this sentimentality was ri- diculous. Another long interval, and as they both hastened to speak, the gentleman from Mecklenburg arrived. He squeezed Diederich's hand so hard that the latter winced, and at the same time he looked into his face with a smile of tri- umph. He drew a chair unconcernedly close to Agnes 's knee, and with an air of proprietorship began talking animatedly

I4 JHE PATRIOTEER

about all sorts of things which concerned only the two of them. Diederich was left to himself and he discovered that Agnes was not so terrible, when he could contemplate her undisturbed. She wasn't really pretty; her aquiline nose was too small, and freckles were plainly visible on its narrow bridge. Her light brown eyes were too close together, and they blinked when she looked at any one. Her lips were too thin, as indeed her whole face was. "If she had not that mass of reddish brown hair over her forehead and that white complexion. . . ." He noted, too, with satisfaction that the nail of the finger which he had licked was not quite clean.

Herr Goppel came in with his three sisters, one of whom was accompanied by her husband and children. Her father and her aunts threw their arms round Agnes and kissed her fer- vently, but with solemn composure. The girl was taller and slimmer than any of them, and as they hung about her narrow shoulders she looked down on them with an air of distraction. The only kiss which she returned, slowly and seriously, was her father's. As Diederich watched this he could see in the bright sunlight the pale blue veins in her temples overshadowed by auburn hair.

It fell to him to take one of the aunts into the dining-room. The man from Mecklenburg had taken Agnes's arm. The silk Sunday dresses rustled round the family table, while the gentle- men took precautions not to crush the tails of their frock-coats. While the gentlemen rubbed their hands in anticipation and cleared their throats, the soup was brought in.

Diederich sat at some distance from Agnes, and he could not see her unless he bent forward — which he carefully refrained from doing. As his neighbour left him in peace, he ate vast quantities of roast veal and cauliflower. The food was the subject of detailed conversation and he was called upon to tes- tify to its excellence. Agnes was warned not to eat the salad, she was advised to take a little red wine, and she was requested to state whether she had worn her goloshes that morning.

THE PATRIOTEER 15

Turning to Diederich Herr Goppel related how he and his sis- ters somehow or other had got separated in Friederichstrasse, and had not found one another until they were in the bus. "That's the sort of thing that would never happen in Netzig," he cried triumphantly to the whole table. Mahlmann and Agnes spoke of a concert to which they said they must go, and they were sure papa would let them. Herr Goppel mildly objected and the aunts supported him in chorus. Agnes should go to bed early and soon go for a change of air; she had over- exerted herself in the winter. She denied it. "You never let me go outside the door. You are terrible."

Diederich secretly took her part. He was swept by a wave of chivalry: He would have liked to make it possible for her to do everything she wished, to be happy and to owe her hap- piness to him. . . . Then Herr Goppel asked him if he would like to go to the concert. "I don't know/' he said indifferently, looking at Agnes who leaned forward. "What sort of a con- cert is it? I go only to concerts where I can get beer."

"Quite right," said Herr Goppel's brother-in-law.

Agnes had shrunk back, and Diederich regretted his state- ment.

They were all looking forward to the custard but it did not come. Herr Goppel advised his daughter just to have a look. Before she could push away her plate Diederich had jumped up, hurling his chair against the wall, and rushed to the door. "Mary! the custard!" he bawled. Blushing, and without dar- ing to look any one in the face, he returned to his seat, but he saw only too clearly how they smiled at one another. Mahl- mann actually snorted contemptuously. With forced hearti- ness the brother-in-law said: "Always polite; as a gentleman should be." Herr Goppel smiled affectionately at Agnes, who did not raise her eyes from her plate. Diederich pressed his knees against the leaf of the table until it shook. He thought: "My God, my God, if only I hadn't done that!"

When they wished each other "gesegnete Mahlzeit" he shook

16 THE PATRIOTEER

hands with everybody except Agnes, to whom he bowed awk- wardly. In the drawing-room at coffee he carefully chose a seat where he was screened by Mahlmann's broad back. One of the aunts tried to take possession of him.

"What are you studying, may I ask, young man?" she said.

"Chemistry."

"Oh, I see, physics?"

"No, chemistry."

"Oh, I see."

Auspiciously as she had begun, she could not get any fur- ther. To himself Diederich described her as a silly goose. The whole company was impossible. In moody hostility he looked on until the last relative had departed. Agnes and her father had seen them out, and Herr Goppel returned to the room and found the young man, to his astonishment, still sit- ting there alone. He maintained a puzzled silence and once dived his hand into his pocket. When Diederich said good- bye of his own accord, without trying to borrow money, Goppel displayed the utmost amiability. "I'll say good-bye to my daughter for you," said he, and when they got to the door he added, after a certain hesitation: "Come again next Sunday, won't you?"

Diederich absolutely determined never to put his foot in the house again. Nevertheless, he neglected everything for days afterwards to search the town for a place where he could buy Agnes a ticket for the concert. He had to find out beforehand from the posters the name of the virtuoso whom Agnes had mentioned. Was that he? hadn't the name sounded something like that? Diederich decided, but he opened his eyes in horror when he discovered that it cost four marks fifty. All that good money to hear a man make music! Once he had paid and got out into the street, he became indignant at the swindle. Then he recollected that it was all for Agnes and his indignation sub- sided. He went on his way through the crowd feeling more

THE PATRIOTEER 17

and more mellow and happy. It was the first time he had ever spent money on another human being.

He put the ticket in an envelope, without any covering mes- sage, and, in order not to give himself away, he inscribed the address in the best copper-plate style. While he was standing at the letter-box Mahlmann came up and laughed derisively. Diederich felt that he was discovered and looked earnestly at the hand which he had just withdrawn from the box. But Mahlmann merely announced his intention of having a look at Diederich's quarters. He found that the place looked as if it belonged to an elderly lady. Diederich had actually brought the coffee pot from home! Diederich was hot with shame. When Mahlmann contemptuously opened and shut his chem- istry books Diederich was ashamed of the subject he was studying. The man from Mecklenburg plumped down on the sofa and asked: "What do you think of the little Goppel girl? Nice kid, isn't she? Oh, look at him blushing again! Why don't you go after her? I am willing to retire, if it is any satisfaction to you, I have fifteen other strings to my bow."

Diederich made a gesture of indifference:

"I tell you she is worth while, if I am any judge of women. That red hair! — and did you ever notice how she looks at you when she thinks you can't see her?"

"Not at me," said Diederich even more indifferently. "I don't care a damn about it anyhow."

"So much the worse for you!" Mahlmann laughed boister- ously. Then he proposed that they should take a stroll, which degenerated into a round of the bars. By the time the street lamps were lit they were both drunk. Later on, in Leipziger- strasse without any provocation, Mahlmann gave Diederich a tremendous box on the ear. "Oh," he said, "you have an in- fernal ." He was afraid to say "cheek." "All right, old

chap, amongst friends, no harm meant," cried the Mecklen- burger, clapping him on the shoulder. And finally he touched

i8 THE PATRIOTEER

Diederich for his last ten marks. . . . Four days later he found him, weak from hunger, and magnanimously shared with him three marks from what he had meanwhile borrowed else- where. On Sunday at Goppel's — where Diederich would per- haps not have gone if his stomach had not been so empty— Mahlmann explained that Hessling had squandered all his money and would have to eat his fill that day. Herr Goppel and his brother-in-law laughed knowingly, but Deiderich would rather never have been born than meet the sad, inquiring eyes of Agnes. She despised him. In desperation he consoled him- self with the thought: "She always did. What does it mat- ter?" Then she asked if it was he who had sent the concert ticket. Every one turned to look at him.

"Nonsense! Why on earth should I have done that?" he returned, so gruffly that they all believed him. Agnes hesi- tated a little before turning away. Mahlmann offered the ladies sugar-almonds and placed what was left in front of Agnes. Diederich took no notice of her, and ate even more than on the previous occasion. Why not, since they all thought he had come there for no other reason? When some one pro- posed that they should go out to Griinewald for their coffee, Diederich invented another engagement. He even added: with "some one whom I cannot possibly keep waiting." Herr Goppel placed his closed hand on his shoulder, smiled at him, with his head a little on one side, and said in an undertone: "Of course you know the invitation includes you." But Diederich indig- nantly assured him that had nothing to do with it. "Well, in any case you will come again whenever you feel inclined." Goppel concluded, and Agnes nodded. She appeared to wish to say something, but Diederich would not wait. He wan- dered about for the rest of the day in a state of self-com- placent grief, like one who has achieved a great sacrifice. In the evening he sat in an overcrowded beer-room, with his head in his hands, and wagged his head at his solitary glass from time to time, as if he now understood the ways of destiny.

THE PATRIOTEER 19

What was he to do against the masterly manner in which Mahlmann accepted his loans? On Sunday the Mecklenbur- ger had brought a bouquet for Agnes, though Diederich, who came with empty hands, might have said: "That is really from me." Instead of that he was silent, and was more incensed against Agnes than against Mahlmann. The latter commanded his admiration when he ran at night after some passer-by and knocked in his hat — although Diederich was by no means blind to the warning which this procedure contained for himself.

At the end of the month he received for his birthday an un- expected sum of money which his mother had saved up for him, and he arrived at GoppeFs with a bouquet, not so large as to give himself away, or to challenge Mahlmann. As she took it the girl's face wore an embarrassed expression, and Diederich's smile was both shy and condescending. That Sunday seemed to him unusually gay and the proposal that they should go to the Zoological Gardens did not surprise him.

The company set out, after Mahlmann had counted them: Eleven persons. Like Gb'ppePs sisters, all the women they met were dressed quite differently than on week-days, as if they belonged to-day to a higher class, or had come into a legacy. The men wore frock coats, only a few with dark trousers like Diederich, but many had straw hats. The side streets were broad, uniform and empty, not a soul was to be seen, nor any of the usual refuse. In one, however, a group of little girls in white dresses, and black stockings, bedecked with ribbons were singing shrilly and dancing in a ring. Immediately af- terwards, in the main thoroughfare, they came on perspiring matrons storming a bus, and the faces of the shop assistants, who struggled ruthlessly with them for seats, looked so pale beside -their strong red cheeks that one would have thought they were going to faint. Every one pushed forward, every one rushed to the one goal where pleasure would begin. On every face was plainly written: "Come on, we have worked enough!"

20 THE PATRIOTEER

Diederich became the complete city man for the benefit of the ladies. He captured several seats for them in the tram. One gentleman was on the point of taking the seat when Died- erich prevented him by stamping heavily on his foot. "Clumsy fool!" he cried and Diederich answered in appropriate terms. Then it turned out that Herr Goppel knew him, and scarcely had they been introduced when both exhibited the most courtly manners. Neither would sit down lest the other should have to stand.

When they sat down at table in the Zoological Gardens Die- derich succeeded in getting beside Agnes — why was everything going so well to-day? — and when she proposed to go and look at the animals immediately after they had had their coffee, he enthusiastically seconded the proposal. He felt wonderfully enterprising. The ladies turned back at the narrow passage between the cages of the wild animals. Diederich offered to accompany Agnes. "Then you'd better take me with you," said Mahlmann. "If a bar really did break — "

"Then it would not be you who would put it back into its place," retorted Agnes, as she entered, while Mahlmann burst out laughing. Diederich went after her. He was afraid of the animals who bounded towards him on both sides, without a sound but the noise of their breathing which he felt upon him. And he was afraid of the young girl whose perfume drew him on. When they had gone some distance she turned round and said, "I hate people who boast."

"Really?" Diederich asked, joyfully moved.

"You are actually nice to-day," said Agnes; and he: "I always want to be nice."

"Really?" — and her voice trembled slightly. They looked at one another, each with an expression suggesting that they had not deserved all this. The girl said complainingly:

"I can't stand the horrible smell of these animals." Then they went back.

THE PATRIOTEER 21

Mahlmann greeted them. "I was curious to see if you were going to give us the slip." Then he took Diederich aside. "Well, how did you find her? Did you get on all right? Didn't I tell you that no great arts are required?"

Diederich made no reply.

"I suppose you made a good beginning? Now let me tell you this: I shall be only two more terms in Berlin, then you can take her on after I am gone, but meanwhile, hands off — my little friend!" As he said this, his small head looked ma- licious on his immense body.

Diederich was dismissed. He had received a terrible fright and did not again venture in Agnes's neighbourhood. She did not pay much attention to Mahlmann, but shouted over her shoulder: "Father! it is beautiful to-day and I really feel well."

Herr Goppel took her arm between his two hands, as if he were going to squeeze it tight, but he scarcely touched it. His colourless eyes laughed and filled with tears. When the fam- ily had taken its departure, he called his daughter and the two young men, and declared that this was a day which must be celebrated; they would go along down Unter den Linden and afterwards get something to eat.

"Father is getting frivolous!" cried Agnes looking at Die- derich. But he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. In the tram he was so clumsy that he got separated far from the others, and in the crowd in Friederichstrasse he walked behind alone with Herr Goppel. Suddenly Goppel stopped, fumbled ner- vously at his waistcoat and asked "Where is my watch?"

It had disappeared along with the chain. Mahlmann said: "How long have you been in Berlin, Herr Goppel?"

"Ah, yes," — Goppel turned to Diederich, — "I have been living here for thirty years, but such a thing has never hap- pened to me before." Then, with a certain pride: "such a thing couldn't happen in Netzig at all!"

Now, instead of going to a restaurant, they had to go to

22 THE PATRIOTEER

the police station and lodge a complaint. Agnes began to cough, and Goppel gave a start. "It would make us too tired after this," he murmured. With forced good humour he said good-bye to Diederich, who ignored Agnes's hand, and lifted his hat awkwardly. Suddenly, with surprising agility, he sprang onto a passing bus, before Mahlmann could grasp what was happening. He had escaped. Now the holidays were beginning and he was free of everything. When he got to his house he threw his heaviest chemistry books to the ground with a crash, and he was preparing to send the coffee pot after them. But, hearing the noise of a door, he began at once to gather up everything again. Then he sat down quietly in a corner of the sofa, and wept with his head in his hands. If it had only not been so pleasant before! She had led him into a trap. That's the way girls were; they led you on solely for the purpose of making fun of you with another fellow. Died- erich was deeply conscious that he could not challenge com- parison with such a man. He contrasted himself with Mahl- mann and would not have understood if any one had preferred him to the other. "How conceited I have been," he thought. "The girl who falls in love with me must be really stupid." He had a great fear lest the man from Mecklenburg should come and threaten him more seriously. "I don't want her at all. If I only could get away!" Next day he sat in deadly suspense with his door bolted. No sooner had his money ar- rived than he set off on his journey.

His mother, jealous and estranged, asked him what was wrong. He had grown up in such a short time. "Ah yes, the streets of Berlin!"

Diederich grasped at the chance, when she insisted that he should go to a small University and not return to Berlin. His father held that there were two sides to the question. Die- derich had to give him a full account of the Goppels. Had he seen the factory? Had he been to his other business friends? Herr Hessling wished Diederich to employ his holidays in learn-

THE PATRIOTEER 23

ing how paper was made in his father's workshops. "I am not so young as I used to be, and my old wound has not troubled me so much for a long time as lately."

Diederich disappeared as soon as he could, in order to wan- der in the Gabbelchen wood, or along the stream in the direc- tion of Gohse, and to feel himself one with Nature. This pleasure was now open to him. For the first time it occurred to him that the hills in the background looked sad and seemed full of longing. The sun was Diederich 's warm love and his tears the rain that fell from heaven. He wept a great deal, and even tried to write poetry.

Once when he was in the chemist's shop his school friend, Gottlieb Hornung, was standing behind the counter. "Yes, I am doing a little compounding here during the summer months," he explained. He had even succeeded in poisoning himself by mistake, and had twisted himself backwards like an eel. It had been the talk of the town. But he would be going to Berlin in the autumn to set about the thing scien- tifically. Was there anything doing in Berlin? Delighted with his advantage, Diederich began to brag about his Berlin ex- periences. "We two will paint the town red," the chemist vowed.

Diederich was weak enough to agree. The idea of a small university was abandoned. At the end of the summer Died- erich returned to Berlin. Hornung had still a few days to prac- tise. Diederich avoided his old room in Tieckstrasse. From Mahlmann and the Goppels he fled out as far as Gesundbrun- nen. There he waited for Hornung. But the latter, who had announced his departure, did not turn up. When he finally did come he was wearing a green yellow and red cap. He had been immediately captured by a fellow-student for a students' corps. Diederich would have to join them also; they were known as the Neo-Teutons, a most select body, said Hornung; there were no less than six pharmacists in it. Diederich con- cealed his fright under a mask of contempt, but to no effect.

24 THE PATRIOTEER

Hornung had spoken about him and he could not let him down; he would have to pay at least one visit. "Well, only one/' he said firmly.

That one visit lasted until Diederich lay under the table and they carried him out. When he had slept it off they took him for the Fruhschoppen for, although not a member of the corps, he had been admitted to the privilege of drinking with them. This suited him down to the ground. He found him- self in the company of a large circle of men, not one of whom interfered with him, or expected anything of him, except that he should drink. Full of thankfulness and good will he raised his glass to every one who invited him. Whether he drank or not, whether he sat or stood, spoke or sang, rarely depended on his own will. Everything was ordered in a loud voice, and if you followed orders you could live at peace with yourself and all the world. When Diederich remembered for the first time not to close the lid of his beer mug, at a certain stage in the ritual, he smiled around at them all, as if his own perfection almost made him feel shy.

That, however, was nothing beside his confident singing. At school Diederich had been one of the best singers, and in his first song book he knew by heart the numbers of the pages where every song could be found. Now he had only to put his finger between the pages of the Kommersbuch, which lay in its nail-studded cover in the pool of beer, and he could find before any one else the song which they were to sing. He would often hang respectfully on the words of the president for a whole evening, in the hope that they would announce his favourite song. Then he would bravely shout: "Sie wissen den Teufel, was Freiheit heisst" Beside him he heard Fatty Delitzsch bellowing, and felt happily lost in the shadow of the low-ceilinged room, decorated in Old German style, with their students' caps on the wall. Around him was the ring of open mouths, all singing the same songs and drinking the same drinks, and the smell of beer and human bodies, from which"

THE PATRIOTEER 25

the heat drew the beer again in the form of perspiration. He had sunk his personality entirely in the corps, whose will and brain were his. And he was a real man, who could respect himself and who had honour, because he belonged to it. No- body could separate him from it, or get at him individually. Let Mahlmann dare to come there and try it. Twenty men, instead of one Diederich, would stand up to him! Diederich only wished he were there now, he felt so courageous. He should preferably come with Goppel, then they would see what Diederich had become. What a revenge that would be!

He got the greatest sympathy from the most harmless mem- ber of the whole crowd, Fatty Delitzsch. There was some- thing deeply soothing about this smooth, white, humorous lump of fat, which inspired confidence. His corpulent body bulged far out over the edge of the chair and rose in a series of rolls, until it reached the edge of the table and rested there, as if it had done its uttermost, incapable of making any fur- ther movement other than raising and lowering the beer-glass. There Delitzsch was in his element more than any of the others. To see him sitting there was to forget that he had ever stood on his feet. He was constructed for the sole purpose of sitting at the beer table. In any other position his trousers hung loosely and despondently, but now they were filled out and assumed their proper shape. It was only then that his face lit up, bright with the joy of life, and he became witty.

It was a tragedy when a young freshman played a joke on him by taking his glass away. Delitzsch did not move, but his glance, which followed the glass wherever it went, suddenly reflected all the stormy drama of life. In his high-pitched Saxon voice he cried: "For goodness' sake, man, don't spill it! Why on earth do you want to take from me the staff of life! That is a low, malicious threat to my very existence, and I could have you jailed for it!"

If the joke lasted too long Delitzsch's fat cheeks sank in, and he humbled himself beseechingly. But as soon as he got

26 THE PATRIOTEER

his beer back, how all-embracing was his smile of forgiveness, how he brightened up! Then he would say: "You are a decent devil after all. Your health! Good luck!" He emptied his mug and rattled the lid for more beer.

A few hours later Delitzsch would turn his chair round and go and bend his head over the basin under the water tap. The water would flow, Delitzsch would gurgle chokingly, and a couple of others would rush into the lavatory drawn by the sound. Still a little pale, but with renewed good humour, Delitzsch would draw his chair back to the table.

"Well, that's better," he would say; and: "what have you been talking about when I was busy elsewhere? Can you not talk of a damn thing except women? What do I care about women?" And louder: "They are not even worth the price of a stale glass of beer. I say! Bring another!"

Diederich felt he was quite right. He knew women himself and was finished with them. Beer stood for incomparably higher ideals.

Beer! Alcohol! You sat there and could always get more. Beer was homely and true and not like coquettish women. With beer there was nothing to do, to wish and to strive for, as there was with women. Everything came of itself. You swallowed, and already something was accomplished ; you were raised to a higher sense of life, and you were a free man, in- wardly free. Even if the whole place were surrounded by po- lice, the beer that was swallowed would turn into inner free- dom, and examinations were as good as passed. You were through and had got your degree. In civil life you held an important position and were rich, the head of a great postcard, or toilet-paper, factory. The products of your life's work were in the hands of thousands. From the beer table one spread out over the whole world, realised important connections, and be- came one with the spirit of the time. Yes, beer raised one so high above oneself that one had a glimpse of deity!

Diederich would have liked to go on like that for years.

THE PATRIOTEER 27

But the Neo-Teutons would not allow him to. Almost from the very first day they had pointed out to him the moral and material advantages of full membership of the corps. But gradually they set about to catch him in a less indirect fashion. Diederich referred in vain to the fact that he had been ad- mitted to the recognised position of a drinking guest, to which he was accustomed and which he found quite satisfactory. They replied that the aim of the association of students, namely, training in manliness and idealism, could not be fully achieved by mere drinking, important as that was. Diederich shivered, for he knew only too well what was coming. He would have to fight duels! It had always affected him un- pleasantly when they had shown him the swordstrokes with their sticks, the strokes which they had taught one another; or when one of them wore a black skull cap on his head and smelt of iodoform. Panic-stricken he now thought: "Why did I stay as their guest and drink with them? Now I can't retreat."

That was true. But his first experience soothed his fears. His body was so carefully padded, his head and eyes so thor- oughly protected, that it was impossible for much to happen to him. As he had no reason for not following the rules as willingly and as carefully as when drinking, he learned to fence quicker than the others. The first time he was pinked he felt weak, as the blood trickled down his cheek. Then when the cut was stitched he could have jumped for joy. He reproached himself for having attributed wicked intentions to his kind adversary. It was that very man, whom he had most feared, who took him under his protection and became his friendliest teacher.

Wiebel was a law student, and that fact alone insured Diede- rich's submissive respect. It was not without a sense of his own inferiority that he saw the English tweeds in which Wiebel dressed, and the coloured shirts, of which he always wore sev- eral in succession, until they all had to go to the laundry.

28 THE PATRIOTEER

What abashed him most was WiebeFs manners. When the latter drank Diederich's health with a graceful bow, Diederich would almost collapse — the strain giving his face a tortured expression — spill one half of his drink and choke himself with the other. Wiebel spoke with the soft, insolent voice of a feudal lord. "You may say what you will," he was fond of remarking, "good form is not a vain illusion."

When he pronounced the letter "f" in form, he contracted his mouth until it looked like a small, dark mousehole, and emitted the sound slowly and broadly. Every time Diederich was thrilled by so much distinction. Everything about Wiebel seemed exquisite to him: his reddish moustache which grew high up on his lip and his long, curved nails, which curled downwards, not upward as Diederich's did; the strong mascu- line odour given out by Wiebel, his prominent ears, which heightened the effect of his narrow skull, and the cat-like eyes deeply set in his face. Diederich had always observed these things with a wholehearted feeling of his own unworthiness. But, since Wiebel had spoken to him, and become his protec- tor, Diederich felt as if his right to exist had now been con- firmed. If he had had a tail he would have wagged it grate- fully. His heart expanded with happy admiration. If his wishes had dared to soar to such heights, he would also have liked to have such a red neck and to perspire constantly. What a dream to be able to whistle like Wiebel.

It was now Diederich's privilege to serve him; he was his fag. He was always in attendance when Wiebel got up, and got his things for him. As Wiebel was not in the good graces of the landlady, because he was irregular with his rent, Diede- rich made his coffee and cleaned his boots. In return, he was taken everywhere. When Wiebel wanted privacy Diederich went on guard outside, and he only wished he had his sword with him in order to shoulder it.

Wiebel would have deserved such an attention. The honour of the corps, in which Diederich's honour and his whole con-

THE PATRIOTEER 29

sciousness were rooted, had its finest representative in Wiebel. On behalf of the Neo-Teutons he would fight a duel with any one. He had raised the dignity of the corps, for he was re- puted to have once corrected a member of the swellest corps in Germany. He had also a relative in the Emperor Francis Joseph's second regiment of Grenadier Guards, and every time Wiebel mentioned his cousin, von Klappke, the assembled Neo- Teutons felt flattered, and bowed. Diederich tried to imagine a Wiebel in the uniform of an officer of the Guards, but his imagination reeled before such distinction. Then one day, when he and Gottlieb Hornung were coming highly perfumed from their daily visit to the barber's, Wiebel was standing at the street corner with a quarter-master. There could be no doubt that it was a quarter-master, and when Wiebel saw them coming he turned his back. They also turned and walked away stiffly and silently, without looking at one another or ex- changing any remarks. Each supposed that the other had no- ticed the resemblance between Wiebel and the quarter-master. Perhaps the others were long since aware of the true state of affairs, but they were all sufficiently conscious of the honour of the Neo-Teutons to hold their tongues and forget what they had seen. The next time Wiebel mentioned "my cousin, von Klappke," Diederich and Hornung bowed with the others, as flattered as ever.

By this time, Diederich had learned self-control, a sense of good form, esprit de corps, and zeal for his superiors. He thought with reluctance and pity of the miserable existence of the common herd to which he had once belonged. At regu- larly fixed hours he put in an appearance at WiebePs lodgings, in the fencing-hall, at the barber's and at Fruhschoppen. The afternoon walk was a preliminary to the evening's drinking, and every step was taken in common, under supervision and with the observance of prescribed forms and mutual deference, which did not exclude a little playful roughness. A fellow- student, with whom Diederich had hitherto had only official re-

3o JHE PATRIOTEER

lations, once bumped into him at the door of the lavatory, and although both of them were in a great hurry, neither would take precedence over the other. For a long time they stood bowing and scraping — until suddenly overcome by the same need at the same moment, they burst through the door, charg- ing like two wild boars, and knocked their shoulders together. That was the beginning of a friendship. Having come together in such human circumstances, they drew nearer also at the official beer-table, drank one another's health and called each other "pig-dog" and "hippopotamus."

The life of the students' corps had also its tragic side. It demanded sacrifices and taught them to suffer pain and grief with a manly bearing. Delitzsch himself, the source of so much merriment, brought bereavement to the Neo-Teutons. One morning when Wiebel and Diederich came to fetch him, he was standing at his washstand and he said: "Well, are you as thirsty to-day as ever?" Suddenly, before they could reach him he fell down, bringing the crockery with him. Wiebel felt him all over, but Delitzsch did not move again.

"Heart failure," said Wiebel shortly. He walked firmly to the bell. Diederich picked up the broken pieces and dried the floor. Then they carried Delitzsch to his bed. They main- tained a strictly disciplined attitude in the face of the land- lady's vulgar tears. As they proceeded to attend to the usual formalities — they were marching in step — Wiebel said with stoical contempt for death: "that might have happened to any of us. Drinking is no joke. We should always remember that." Like the others, Diederich felt elevated by Delitzsch's faithful devotion to duty, by his death on the field of honour. They proudly followed the coffin, and every face seemed to say: "The Neo-Teutons for ever!" In the churchyard, with their swords lowered, they all wore the reflective expression of the warrior whose turn may come in the next battle, as his com- rade's had come in the one before. And when the leader praised the deceased, who had won the highest prize in the

THE PATRIOTEER 31

school of manliness and idealism, each of them was moved as if the words applied to himself.

This incident marked the end of Diederich's apprenticeship. Wiebel left in order to get called to the bar, and from now on Diederich had to stand alone for the principles which he had laid down, and inculcate them in the younger generation. He did this very strictly and with a sense of great responsibility. Woe to the freshman who incurred the penalty of drinking so many pints in succession. He was obliged to do it for a good deal longer than five minutes, and ended by groping his way out along the wall. The worst offence was for one of them to walk out of the door in front of Diederich. His punish- ment was eight days without beer. Diederich was not guided by vanity or personal considerations, but solely by his lofty idea of the honour of his corps. He himself was a mere indi- vidual, and therefore nothing; whatever rights, whatever dig- nity and importance he enjoyed, were conferred upon him by the corps. He was indebted to it even for his physical ad- vantages: his broad white face, his paunch which inspired the freshmen with respect, and the privilege of appearing on festive occasions in top boots and wearing a cap and sash, the joy of a uniform! It is true he had still to give precedence to a lieu- tenant, for the corps to which the lieutenant belonged was ob- viously a higher one. But, at all events, he could fearlessly associate with a tram conductor without running the risk of his being impertinent. His manly courage was threateningly in- scribed on his countenance in the slashes which grooved his chin, streaked his cheeks and cut their way into his close- cropped skull. What a satisfaction it was to exhibit these con- stantly to every one! Once unexpectedly a brilliant occasion arose. He and two others, Gottlieb Hornung and the land- lady's servant, were at a dance in Halensee. The two friends had been sharing for some months a flat with which a rather pretty servant was included. Neither gave her presents, and during the summer they went out with her together. Whether

32 THE PATRIOTEER

Hornung had gone as far with her as himself was a matter about which Diederich had his private opinion. Officially and as a member of the corps he knew nothing.

Rosa was rather nicely dressed and she found admirers at the ball. In order to dance another polka with her, Diederich had to remind her that it was he who had bought her gloves. He had made a polite bow as a preliminary to the dance when suddenly a third party thrust himself between them and danced off with Rosa. Considerably taken aback, Diederich looked after them with a sombre conviction that this was a case where he must assert himself. But, before he could move, a girl had rushed through the dancing couples, slapped Rosa, and dragged her roughly from her partner. It was the work of a moment for Diederich, when he had seen this, to dash up to Rosa's ravisher.

"Sir," he said looking him straight in the eye, "your conduct is unworthy of a gentleman."

"Well, what about it?"

Astonished by this unusual turn to a dignified conversation Diederich stammered: "Dog."

"Hog," replied the other promptly with a laugh.

Completely demoralised by this absence of good form, Diede- rich prepared to bow and retire. But the other gave him a punch in the stomach and immediately they rolled on the floor. Amidst screams and encouraging shouts they fought until they were separated. Gottlieb Hornung, who was helping to find Diederich's eyeglasses, cried, "there he goes" — and rushed af- ter him, with Diederich following. They were just in time to see him and a companion getting into a cab, and they took the next one. Hornung declared that the corps could not allow such an insult to pass unpunished. "The swine pinches and does not even trouble to look after his lady," Diederich ex- plained.

"As far as Rosa is concerned, I consider the matter closed."

THE PATRIOTEER 33

"So do I."

The chase was exciting. "Shall we overtake them? Our old nag is lame. Suppose this commoner is not of high enough rank to fight a duel with?" In that case they de- cided that the affair would be officially considered never to have happened.

The first carriage stopped before a nice looking house in the West End. Diederich and Hornung got to the door just as it was shut. They posted themselves with determination in front of it. It grew cold and they marched up and down in front of the house, twenty paces to the right and twenty paces to the left, always keeping the door in view and re- peating the same profound and serious remark. This was a case for pistols! This time the Neo-Teutons would buy their honour dearly! Provided he was not a commoner!

At last the concierge appeared, and they consulted him. They tried to describe the two gentlemen, but found that neither of them had any special marks. Hornung maintained, even more passionately than Diederich, that they must wait, and for two more hours they marched up and down. Then two officers came out of the house. Diederich and Hornung stared, uncertain whether there might not be some mistake. The officers started, and one of them seemed to turn slightly pale. That settled the matter for Diederich. He walked up to the one who had turned pale.

"I beg your pardon, sir — "

His voice faltered. The embarrassed lieutenant replied, "You must be mistaken."

Diederich managed to say: "Not at all. I must have sat- isfaction. You have — "

"I don't know you at all," stammered the lieutenant. But his comrade whispered something in his ear: "That won't do," and taking his friend's card, together with his own, he handed them to Diederich. The latter gave his, and then he read:

34 THE PATRIOTEER

"Albrecht Count Tauern-Barenheim." He did not delay to read the other card, but began dutifully to make little bows. Meanwhile the second officer turned to Gottlieb Hornung.

"Of course, my friend meant no harm by the little joke. Needless to say, he is perfectly ready to give you satisfac- tion, but I wish to state that no insult was intended."

The other, at whom he glanced, shrugged his shoulders. Diederich stuttered: "Thank you very much."

"That settles the matter, I suppose," said the friend; and the two gentlemen went off.

Diederich remained standing there, with moist brow and choking voice. Suddenly he gave a deep sigh and smiled slowly.

This incident was the sole subject of conversation after- wards at their drinking parties. Diederich praised the true knightly conduct of the count to his comrades.

"A real nobleman always reveals himself."

He contracted his mouth until it was the size of a mouse- hole and brought out in a slow crescendo: "Good f — form is not a vain illusion."

He repeatedly appealed to Gottlieb Hornung as the witness of his great moment. "He wasn't a bit stuck up, was he? Even a rather daring joke is nothing to a gentleman like that. He preserved his dignity all through. Simply marvellous, I tell you! His Excellence's explanation was so thoroughly sat- isfactory that it was impossible for me to — you know, I am no roughneck."

Every one understood and assured Diederich that the tradi- tion of the Neo-Teutons had been adequately maintained in this affair. The cards of the two noblemen were handed round by the juniors and were stuck between the crossed swords over the Emperor's portrait. There was not a Neo- Teuton that night who went home sober.

That was the end of the term, but Diederich and Hornung

THE PATRIOTEER 35

had no money to travel home. For some time past they had no money for most things. In view of his duties as a corps member, Diederich 's cheque had been raised to two hundred and fifty marks, but still he was up to his eyes in 'debt. All sources from which a loan could be expected were exhausted, and only the most harried prospect stretched out forbiddingly before them. Finally they were obliged to consider the ques- tion of recovering what they themselves had lent in the course of time to their comrades, little as this accorded with knightly practice. Many old chums must meanwhile have come into money. But Hornung could find none. Diederich remem- bered Mahlmann.

"He is a good mark," he declared. "He was not a member of any corps, a common outsider. I'll beard him in his den." As soon as Mahlmann saw him, he at once burst into that tremendous laugh which Diederich had almost forgotten, and which immediately had an irresistible effect upon him. Mahl- mann had no tact. He should have felt that all the Neo- Teutons were morally present in his office with Diederich, and on their account he should have shown more respect for Diederich. The latter had the sensation of having been roughly torn from that powerful unit, and of standing here as one isolated individual before another. This was an un- foreseen and uncomfortable position. He felt all the less com- punction in mentioning his business. He did not want any money back, such conduct would be unworthy of a comrade. He simply asked if Mahlmann would be so kind as to back a bill for him. Mahlmann leaned back in his desk-chair and said plain and straight: "No."

Diederich was astonished: "Why not?"

"It is against my principles to back a bill," Mahlmann ex- plained.

Diederich blushed with annoyance. "But I have gone se- curity for you, and then the bill came to me and I had to fork out a hundred marks. You took care not to show up."

36 THE PATRIOTEER

"So you see! And if I were to go security for you now, you wouldn't pay up either."

Diederich was more surprised than ever.

"No, my young friend," Mahlmann concluded, "if I ever want to commit suicide I can do so without your help."

Diederich pulled himself together and said in a challenging fashion: "I see you have no conception of a gentleman's honour."

"No," Mahlmann repeated, laughing heartily.

With the utmost emphasis Diederich declared: "You appear to be a general kind of swindler. I understand that there is a good deal of swindling in the patent business."

Mahlmann stopped laughing. The expression of his eyes in his little head had become threatening, and he stood up. "Now, get out of here," he said quietly. "Between ourselves, I suppose, it doesn't matter, but my employes are in the next room, and they must not hear such talk." He seized Diederich by the shoulders, turned him around, and shoved him along. Every time he tried to break loose Diederich received a pow- erful cuff. "I demand satisfaction," he shrieked, "I chal- lenge you to a duel!"

"I am at your service. Have you not noticed it? Then I'll get somebody else for you." He opened the door. "Fred- erick!" Then Diederich was handed over to one of the packers, who led him down the stairs. Mahlmann shouted after him: "No harm done, my young friend. Whenever you have anything else on your mind, be sure to call again."

Diederich put his clothes in order and left the building in proper style. So much the worse for Mahlmann if he made such an exhibition of himself. Diederich had nothing to reproach himself with, and would have been brilliantly vindicated by a court of honour. The fact remained that it was most objectionable that one person could allow him- self such liberties. Every corps had been insulted in the per- son of Diederich. At the same time it could not be denied

THE PATRIOTEER 37

that Mahlmann had considerably increased Diederich's self- esteem. "A low dog," Diederich reflected. "But people are like that. . . ."

At home he found a registered letter.

"Now we can be off," said Hornung.

"How do you mean, we? I need my money for myself."

"You must be joking. I can't stay here alone."

"Then go and find some one else to keep you company!" Diederich burst into such a laugh that Hornung thought he was crazy. Thereupon he took his departure.

On the way he noticed for the first time that his mother had addressed the letter. That was unusual. . . . Since her last card, she said, his father had been much worse. Why had Diederich not come?

"We must be prepared for the worst. If you want to see your dearly-beloved father again, do not delay any longer, my son."

These expressions made Diederich feel uncomfortable. He assured himself that his mother was not trustworthy. "I never believe women anyhow, and mother is not quite right in her mind."

Nevertheless, Herr Hessling was breathing his last when Diederich arrived.

Overcome by the sight, Diederich immediately burst into a most undignified howl as he crossed the threshold. He stumbled to the bedside, and his face at that moment was as wet as if he had been washing it. He flapped his arms a number of times, like a bird beating his wings, and let them fall helplessly to his side. Suddenly he noticed his father's right hand on the coverlet, and knelt down and kissed it. Frau Hessling, silent and shrinking, even at the last breath of her master, did the same to his left hand. Diederich remembered how this black, misshapen finger-nail had hit his cheek, when his father boxed his ears, and he wept aloud. And the thrashings when he had stolen the buttons from the

38 THE PATRIOTEER

rags! This hand had been terrible, but Diederich's heart ached now that he was about to lose it. He felt that the same thought was in his mother's mind and she guessed what was passing in his. They fell into one another's arms across the bed.

When the visits of condolence came, Diederich was him- self again. He stood before the whole of Netzig as the rep- resentative of the Neo-Teutons, firm and unbending in his knowledge of gentlemanly behaviour. He almost forgot he was in mourning so great was the attention he aroused. He went right out to the hall-door to receive old Herr Buck. The bulky person of Netzig's great man was majestic in his fine frock-coat. With great dignity he carried his upturned silk- hat in front of him in one hand, while the other, from which he had taken his black glove to shake hands with Diederich, felt extraordinarily soft. His blue eyes gazed warmly at Die- derich and he said:

"Your father was a good citizen. Strive to become one, too, young man. Always respect the rights of your fellow-citizens. Your own human dignity demands that of you. I trust that we shall work here together in our town for the common welfare. You will continue your studies, no doubt?"

Diederich could scarcely answer yes, he was so disturbed by a sense of reverence. Old Buck asked in a lighter tone: "Did my youngest son look you up in Berlin? No? Oh, he must do that. He is also studying there now. I expect he'll soon have to do his year's military service. Have you got that behind you?"

"No" — and Diederich turned very red. He stammered his excuses. It had been quite impossible for him hitherto to interrupt his studies. But old Buck shrugged his shoulders as if the subject were hardly worth discussing.

By his father's will Diederich was appointed, with the old book-keeper Sotbier, as the guardian of his two sisters. Sot- bier informed him that there was a capital of seventy thousand

THE PATRIOTEER 39

marks which was to serve as a dowry for the two girls. Even the interest could not be touched. In late years the average net profit of the factory had been nine thousand marks. "No more?" asked Diederich. Sotbier looked at him, horrified at first and then reproachful. If the young gentleman only knew how his late lamented father and Sotbier had worked up the business! Of course there was still room for im- provement. . . .

"Oh, all right," said Diederich. He saw that many changes would have to be made here. Was he expected to live on one- quarter of nine thousand marks? This supposition on the part of the deceased made him indignant. When his mother stated that the dear departed had expressed the hope on his death-bed that he would live on in his son Diederich, that Diederich would never marry, and always care for the family, then Diederich burst out. "Father was not a sickly senti- mentalist like you/' he shouted, "and he wasn't a liar either." Frau Hessling thought she could hear the voice of her hus- band again and bowed to the inevitable. Diederich seized the opportunity to raise his monthly cheque by fifty marks.

"First of all," he said roughly, "I must do my year's mili- tary service. That's an expensive business. Afterwards you can come to me with your petty money questions."

He insisted on reporting himself in Berlin. The death of his father had filled him with wild notions of freedom. But at night he had dreams in which the old man came out of his office with his grey face as when he lay in his coffin — and Diederich awoke in a sweat of terror.

He departed with his mother's blessing. He had no further use for Gottlieb Hornung and their common property Rosa, so he moved. He exhibited his changed circumstances in due form to the Neo-Teutons. The happy days of student life were over. The farewell party! They drank toasts of mourning which were intended for the old gentleman, but which also applied to Diederich and the first flowering of hi3

40 THE PATRIOTEER

freedom. Out of sheer devotion he finished up under the table, as on the night when he had first drunk with them as a guest. He had now joined the ranks of the old boys.

A couple of days later, still suffering from a bad head, he was standing before the military doctor with a crowd of other young men, all stark naked like himself. The medical officer looked disgustedly at all this manly flesh exposed to view, but when he saw Diederich's paunch his expression was one of contempt. At once they all grinned, and Diederich could not help looking down at his stomach, which was blush- ing. . . . The surgeon-major had become quite serious again. One of them, who did not hear as sharply as was prescribed in the regulations, had a bad time, as they knew the tricks of the shirkers. Another, who had the misfortune to be called Levysohn, was told: "If you ever come to bother me here again, you might at least take a bath first!" To Diederich he said: "We'll soon massage the fat off you. After four weeks* training I guarantee you'll look like a civilised man."

With that he was accepted. Those who had been rejected hastened into their clothes as if the barracks was on fire. The men who were considered fit for service looked at one another suspiciously out of the corners of their eyes and went off sheepishly, as if they expected to feel a heavy hand come down on their shoulders. One of them, an actor, who looked as if everything was a matter of indifference, went back again to the doctor and said in a loud voice, carefully enunciating each word: "I beg to add that I am also homosexual."

The medical officer started back and went very red. In an indifferent tone he said: "We certainly don't want such swine here."

To his future comrades Diederich expressed his indignation at this shameless conduct. Then he spoke again to the ser- geant who had previously measured his height against the wall, and assured him that he was delighted. Nevertheless he wrote home to Netzig to the general practitioner, Dr.

THE PATRIOTEER 41

Heuteufel, who used to paint his throat as a boy, asking if he could not certify that he was suffering from scrofula and rickets. Diederich could not be expected to destroy himself with drudgery. But the reply was that he should not com- plain, that the training would do him no end of good. So Diederich gave up his room again and drove off to the bar- racks with his portmanteau. Since he had to put in fourteen days there, he might as well save that much rent.

They at once began with horizontal-bar exercises, jumping, and other breathless exertions. They were herded in com- panies into corridors, which were called "departments." Lieu- tenant von Kullerow displayed a supercilious indifference, screwing up his eyes whenever he looked at the volunteers. Suddenly he shouted, "Instructor!" and gave his orders to the sergeant and turned on his heels contemptuously. When they exercised in the barrack square, forming fours, opening out, and changing places, the sole object was to keep these "dogs" on the jump. Diederich fully realised that every- thing here, their treatment, the language used, the whole mili- tary system, had only one end in view, to degrade the sense of self-respect to the lowest level. And that impressed him. Miserable as he felt, indeed precisely on that account, it in- spired him with deep respect and a sort of suicidal enthusi- asm. The principle and the ideal were obviously the same as with the Neo-Teutons, only the system was carried out more cruelly. There were no more comfortable intervals when one could remember one's manhood. Slowly and inevitably one sank to the dimensions of an insect, of a part in the machine, of so much raw material, which was moulded by an unlimited will. It would have been ruin and folly to raise oneself up, even in one's secret heart. The most that one could do, against one's own convictions, was to shirk occasionally. When they were running Diederich fell and hurt his foot. It was not quite bad enough to make him limp, but he did limp, and when the company went out route marching, he was allowed

£2 THE PATRIOTEER

to remain behind. In order to do this he had first gone to the captain in person. "Please, captain— What a catas- trophe! In his innocence he had boldly addressed a power from which one was expected to receive orders silently and metaphorically on one's knees! A power whom one could approach only through the intermediary of a third person. The captain thundered so that the noncommissioned ranks started, with expressions of horror at having witnessed a crime. The result was that Diederich limped still more and had to be relieved of duty for another day.

Sergeant Vanselow, who was responsible for the misde- meanour of his recruits, only said to Diederich: "And you profess to be an educated man!" He was accustomed to see- ing all misfortunes coming from the volunteers. Vanselow slept in their dormitory behind a screen. When lights were out they would tell dirty stories until the outraged sergeant yelled at them: "And you fellows set up to be men of educa- tion!" In spite of his long experience he always expected more intelligence and better conduct from the one-year volun- teers than from the other recruits, and every time he was disappointed. Diederich he regarded as by no means the worst. Vanselow's opinion was not influenced solely by the number of drinks they bought him. He set even more store by the military spirit of ready submission, and that Diederich had. When they received instruction he could be held up as a model for the others. Diederich showed himself entirely filled with the military ideals of bravery and honour. When it came to differences of rank and stripes, he seemed to have an innate sense of these things. Vanselow would say: "Now I am the general commanding," and immediately Diederich would act as if he believed it. When he said: "Now I am a member of the Royal Family," then Diederich's attitude was such as to make the sergeant smile with the illusion of gran- deur.

In private conversation in the canteen Diederich confided

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in his superiors that military life filled him with enthusiasm. "To be swallowed up in a great unit," he would say. He would ask for nothing better in the world than to stay in the army. He was sincere, but that did not prevent him, when they were exercising in the parade ground that afternoon, from having no other wish than to lie down in his grave and die. The uniform which was cut to fit closely, for reasons of smartness, became a real instrument of torture after eat- ing. It was no consolation that the captain appeared un- speakably warlike and daring as he gave his commands from his horse, when one could feel the undigested soup slopping about in one's stomach as one ran around breathlessly. The enthusiasm which Diederich was fully prepared to feel was tempered by his personal hardships. His foot was aching again, and Diederich waited for the pairi in the anxious hope, mixed with self-contempt, that it would get worse, so bad that he could not go route marching again. Perhaps he might not even have to exercise any more in the barrack square, and they would have to give him his discharge.

Things came to the point where he called one Sunday on the father of one of his college friends, who was an advisory member of the Medical Council. Red with shame Diederich confessed that he had come to ask for his support. He loved the army, the whole system, and would gladly follow that career. He would be part of a great mechanism, an element in its strength, so to speak, and would always know what he had to do, which was a delightful feeling. But now his foot was paining him. "I can't let it go so far until it is useless. After all, I have to support my mother and sisters." The doctor examined him. "The Nee-Teutons for ever." said he. "It so happens your surgeon-major is a friend of mine." That fact was known to Diederich through his friend. He took his leave full of anxious hope.

The effect of this hope was that he could hardly stand the next morning. He reported sick. "Who are you? and why

44 THE PATRIOTEER

do you bother me?" — And the medical officer looked him over. "You look as fit as a fiddle and your waist line has dimin- ished." But Diederich stood to attention and remained sick. The officer in charge had to come and make an examination. When the foot was uncovered the latter declared that if he did not light a cigar he would be ill. Still, he could find nothing wrong with the foot. The doctor pushed him impa- tiently from the chair. "Fit for duty, that's all, dismissed" — and Diederich was released. In the middle of drill he gave a sudden cry and collapsed. He was taken into the sick ward for slight cases where there was nothing to eat and a power- ful smell of humanity. In this place it was difficult for the volunteers to procure their own food, and he got none of the other men's rations. Driven by hunger he reported himself cured. Cut off from all human protection, and from all the social privileges of civil life, he wore a gloomy look. But one morning, when he had lost all hope, he was called away from drill to the room of the surgeon-major-general. This impor- tant official wished to examine him. He spoke in an embar- rassing, human kind of way, and then broke again into mili- tary gruffness which was not any more calculated to put one at one's ease. He too seemed to find nothing definite, but the result of his examination sounded somewhat different. Die- derich was only to carry on "temporarily" until further no- tice. "With a foot like that . . ."

A few days later a hospital orderly came to Diederich and took an impression of this fateful foot on black paper. Diede- rich was ordered to wait in the consulting-room. The surgeon- major happened to be passing and took the opportunity to express his complete contempt. "The foot is not even flat! all it wants is to be washed!" Just then the door was pushed open and the surgeon-major-general made his entry with his cap on his head. His step was firmer and surer than usual, he looked neither to the right nor to the left, stood silently in front of his subordinate, and glared gloomily and severely

THE PATRIOTEER 45

at his cap. The latter was embarrassed. He obviously found himself in a position which did not permit the usual com- radeship of colleagues. But he realised the situation, took off his cap and stood at attention. His superior then showed him the paper with the tracing of Diederich's foot, spoke to him in a low tone but with an emphasis which commanded him to see something that was not there. The surgeon-major blinked alternately at his commanding officer, at Diederich and at the paper. Then he clicked his heels; he had seen what he was ordered to see.

When the major-general had gone, the major approached Diederich. With a slight smile of understanding he said politely:

"Of course, the case was clear from the beginning. Be- cause of the men we had to ... you understand, disci- pline. . . ."

Diederich stood at attention as a sign that he under- stood.

"But," continued the major, "I need hardly say I knew how your case stood."

Diederich thought: "If you didn't know it before you know it now." Aloud he said: "I trust you will pardon me for asking, sir, but shall I not be allowed to continue my service?"

"I cannot guarantee that," said the doctor, turning away.

From that time on Diederich was relieved of heavy duty. He went for no more route marches. His conduct in bar- racks was all the more friendly and willing. At roll-call in the evening the captain came from the mess, with a cigar in his mouth and slightly tipsy, to confine to cells those who had wiped their boots instead of polishing them. He never found fault with Diederich. On the other hand, he vented his righteous wrath all the more severely on a volunteer who, now in his third month, had to sleep in the men's dormitory as a punishment because he had not slept there, but at home, dur- ing his first fortnight's service. He had had at the time

46 THE PATRIOTEER

fourteen degrees of fever and would probably have died if he had done his duty. Well, let him die! The captain's face assumed an expression of proud satisfaction every time he looked at this volunteer. Standing in the background, small and unnoticed, Diederich thought: "You see, my boy, the Neo-Teutons and an Advisory Member of the Medical Council are more useful than fourteen degrees of fever. . . ." As far as he was concerned the official formalities were one day happily fulfilled, and Sergeant Vanselow informed him that he had received his release. Diederich's eyes at once filled with tears and he shook his hand warmly.

"Just my luck for a thing like that to happen to me, and I had" — he sobbed — "such a happy time."

Then he found himself outside in the street.

He remained at home four whole weeks and studied hard. When he went out to meals he looked round anxiously lest an acquaintance should see him. Finally he felt he would have to show himself to the Neo-Teutons. He assumed a challeng- ing attitude.

"Until you have been in the army you have no idea what it's like. There, I can tell you, you see the world from a very different standpoint. I would have stayed altogether, my qualifications were so excellent that my superior officers advised me to do so. But then" — here he stared moodily in front of him — "came the accident with the horse. That is the result of being too good a soldier. The captain used to get some one to drive in his dog-cart to exercise the horse, and that is how the accident happened. Of course I did not nurse> my foot properly and resumed duty too soon. The thing got very much worse, and the doctor advised me to prepare my relatives for the worst." — The words came sharply and with manly restraint. — "You should have seen the captain; he came to see me himself every day, after the long marches, just as he was, with his uniform covered with dust. During those days of suffering we became real comrades. Here, I still

THE PATRIOTEER 47

have one of his cigars. When he had to confess that the doc- tor had decided to send me away, I assure you it was one of those moments in a man's life which he can never forget. Both the captain and I had tears in our eyes." The whole company was deeply moved. Diederich looked bravely around at them.

"Well, now I suppose I must try and find my way back into civilian life. Your health."

He continued to cram and on Saturdays he drank with the Neo-Teutons. Wiebel also turned up. He had become an assistant judge, on the way to becoming a state's attorney, and could only talk of "subversive tendencies," "enemies of the fatherland" and "Christian socialist ideas." He explained to the freshmen that the time had come to take politics seri- ously. He knew it was considered vulgar, but their oppo- nents made it necessary. Real feudal aristocrats, like his friend, von Barnim, were in the movement. Herr von Barnim would shortly honour the Neo-Teutons with his company.

When he came he won all hearts, for he treated them as equals. He had dark, closely cropped hair, the manner of a conscientious bureaucrat, and spoke in matter-of-fact tones, but at the end of his address his eyes had a look of ecstasy, and he said good-bye quickly, pressing their hands fervently. After his visit the Neo-Teutons all agreed that Jewish lib- eralism was the first fruits of social democracy and German Christians should rally to the Royal Chaplain, Stocker. Like the others, Diederich did not connect the expression "first fruits" with any definite idea, and he understood "social de- mocracy" to mean a general division of wealth. And that was enough for him. But Herr von Barnim had invited those who desired further information to come to him, and Diederich would never have pardoned himself if he had missed so flat- tering an opportunity.

In his cold, old-fashioned, bachelor apartment Herr von Barnim held a private and confidential conclave. His politi-

48 THE PATRIOTEER

cal objective was a permanent system of popular represen- tation as in the happy Middle Ages: knights, clergy, crafts- men and artisans. As the Emperor had rightly insisted, the crafts would have to be restored to the dignity which they enjoyed before the Thirty Years' War. The guilds were to cultivate religion and morals. Diederich expressed the warm- est approval. The idea fully corresponded with his tendency, as a registered member of a profession and a gentleman of rank, to take his stand in life collectively rather than per- sonally. He already pictured himself as the delegate of the paper industry. Herr von Barnim frankly excluded their Jew- ish fellow-citizens from his social order. Were they not the root of all disorder and revolution, of confusion and dis- respectfulness, the principle of evil itself? His pious face was convulsed with hatred and Diederich felt with him.

"When all is said and done," he remarked, "we wield the power and can throw them out. The German army—

"That's just it," cried Herr von Barnim, who was walking up and down the room. "Did we wage the glorious war in order to sell my family estate to a gentleman named Frank- furter?"

While Diederich maintained a disturbed silence, there was a ring and Herr von Barnim said: "This is my barber; I must tackle him also." He noticed Diederich's look of dis- appointment and added:

"Of course with such a man I talk differently. But each one of us must do his bit against the Social Democrats, and bring the common people into the camp of our Christian Emperor. You must do yours!" Thereupon Diederich took his leave. He heard the barber say:

"Another old customer, sir, has gone over to Liebling just because Liebling now has marble fittings."

When Diederich reported to Wiebel the latter said:

"That is all very well, and I have a particular regard for the idealistic viewpoint of my friend, von Barnim, but in the

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long run it will not get us anywhere. Stocker, you know, also made his damned experiments with democracy at the Ice Pal- ace. Whether it was Christian or un-Christian democracy, I don't know. Things have got too far for that. To-day only one course is still open: To hit out hard so long as we have the power."

Greatly relieved Diederich agreed with him. To go round converting Christians had at once struck him as rather la- borious.

"I will attend to the Social Democrats, the Emperor has said." WiebeFs eyes gleamed with a cat-like ferocity. "Now what more do you want? The soldiers have been given their orders, and it may happen that they will have to fire on their beloved relatives. What of it? I tell you, my dear fellow, we are on the eve of great events."

Diederich showed signs of excited curiosity.

"My cousin, von Klappke — " Wiebel paused and Diederich clicked his heels — "has told me things which are not yet ripe for publication. Suffice it to say that His Majesty's statement yesterday, that the grumblers should kindly shake the dust of Germany from the soles of their feet, was a damnably serious warning."

"Is that a fact? Do you really think so?" said Diederich. "Then it is the devil's own luck that I have to leave His Majesty's service just at this moment. I am not ashamed to say that I would have done my whole duty against the do- mestic enemy. One thing I do know, the Emperor can rely upon the army."

During those icy cold days of February, 1892, he went about the streets a great deal, in the expectation of great events. Along Unter den Linden something was afoot, but what it was could not yet be seen. Mounted police held the ends of the streets and waited. Pedestrians pointed to this display of force. "The unemployed!" People stood still to watch them approaching. They came from a northerly direc-

50 THE PATRIOTEER

tion, marching slowly in small sections. When they reached Unter den Linden they hesitated, as if lost, took counsel by an exchange of glances, and turned off towards the Castle. There they stood in silence, their hands in their pockets, while the wheels of the cars splashed them with mud, and they hunched up their shoulders beneath the rain which fell on their faded overcoats. Many of them turned to look at pass- ing officers, at the ladies in their carriages, at the long fur coats of the gentlemen hurrying from Burgstrasse. Their faces were expressionless, neither threatening nor even curi- ous: not as if they wanted to see, but as if they wanted to be seen. Others never moved an eye from the windows of the Castle. The rain trickled down from their upturned faces. The horse of a shouting policeman drove them on further across the street to the next corner — but they stood still again, and the world seemed to sink down between those broad hollow faces, lit by the livid gleam of evening, and the stern walls beyond them which were already enveloped in darkness.

"I do not understand," said Diederich, "why the police do not take more energetic measures. That is certainly a rebellious crew."

"Don't you worry," Wiebel replied, "they have received exact instructions. Believe me, the authorities have their own well-developed plans. It is not always desirable to sup- press at the outset such excrescences on the body politic. When they have been allowed to ripen, then a radical opera- tion can be performed."

The ripening process to which Wiebel referred increased daily, and on the 26th it was completed. The demonstrations of the unemployed seemed more conscious of their objective. When they were driven back into one of the northern streets they overflowed into the next, and, before they could be cut off, they surged forward again in increased numbers. The processions all met at Unter den Linden, and as often as they

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were separated they ran together again. They reached the Castle, were driven back, and reached it again, silent and irresistible, like a river overflowing its banks. The traffic was blocked, the stream of pedestrians was banked up until it flowed over slowly into the flood which submerged the square; into this turbid, discoloured sea of poverty, rolling up in clammy waves, emitting subdued noises and throwing up, like the masts of sunken ships, poles bearing banners: "Bread! Work!" Here and there a more distinct rumbling broke out of the depths: "Bread! Work!" Swelling above the crowd it rolled off like a thunder-cloud: "Bread! Work!" The mounted police attack, the sea foams up and subsides, while women's voices shrilly cry like signals above the uproar: "Bread! Work!"

They are swept along, carrying with them the curious spec- tators standing on the Friederich monument. Their mouths are wide open; dust rises from the minor officials whose way to the office has been blocked, as if their clothes had been beaten. A distorted face, unknown to Diederich, shouts at him: "Here's something different! Now we are going for the Jews!" — and the face disappears before he remembers that it is Herr von Barnim. He tries to follow him, but in a big rush is thrown far across the road in front of a cafe, where he hears the crash of the broken windows and a workman shouting: "They fired me out of here lately with my thirty pfennig, because I had not got a silk hat on." — With him Diederich is forced in through the window, between the over- turned tables and on to the floor, where they trip over broken glass, crushing against one another and howling. "No more in here! We must have air!" But still they clamber in. "The police are charging!" In the middle of the street, a free passage is miraculously made, as if for a triumphant pro- cession. Then someone cries: "There goes Emperor William!"

Diederich found himself once more on the street. No one knew how it happened that they could suddenly move

52 THE PATRIOTEER

along in a solid mass the whole width of the street, and on both sides, right up to the flanks of the horse on which the Emperor sat — the Emperor himself. The people looked at him and followed him. Shouting masses were dissolved and swept along. Every one looked at him. A dark pushing mob with- out form, without plan, without limit, and bright above it a young man in a helmet: the Emperor. They looked. They had brought him down from his Castle. They had shouted: "Bread! Work!" until he had come. Nothing had been changed, except that he was there, and yet they were march- ing as if to a review of the troops at the Tempelhof.

On the outskirts, where the crowds were thinner, respectable people were saying to each other: "Well, thank God, he knows what he wants!"

"What does he want then?"

"To show that mob who is master! He tried treating them kindly. He even went too far in remitting sentences two years ago; they have become impertinent."

"It certainly must be admitted that he is not afraid. My word, this is an historical moment!

Diederich listened and was thrilled. The old gentleman who had spoken turned to him. He had white side-whiskers and wore an iron cross.

"Young man," said he, "what our magnificent young Em- peror is now doing will be learned one day by the children in their schoolbooks. Wait till you see!"

Many people threw out their chests with an air of rever- ence. The gentlemen who rode behind the Emperor kept their eyes fixed in front of them, but they guided their horses through the crowd as if all these folk were supers ordered to appear in some royal spectacle. At times they glanced side- ways at the public to see how the latter were impressed. The Emperor himself saw only his own personality and his own performance. Profound seriousness was stamped upon his features and his eyes flashed over the thousands whom he

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had fascinated. He measured himself against them, he, the master by the grace of God, and his rebellious slaves. Alone and unprotected he had dared to come amongst them, strong only in the sense of his mission. They might lay violent hands upon him if that were the will of the Almighty. He offered himself as sacrifice to his sacred trust. He would show them whether God was on his side. Then they would carry away the impression of his action and the eternal mem- ory of their own powerlessness.

A young man wearing a wide-brimmed hat passed near Die- derich and said: "Old stuff. Napoleon in Moscow fraternis- ing alone with the people."

"But it is fine," asserted Diederich, and his voice faltered with emotion. The other shrugged his shoulders.

"Melodrama, and no good, at that."

Diederich looked at him and tried to flash his eyes like the Emperor.

"I suppose you are one of that rabble yourself."

He could not have explained what the rabble was. He simply felt that here, for the first time in his life, he had to defend law and order against hostile criticism. In spite of his agitation, he had another look at the man's shoulders ; th *y were not imposing. The bystanders, too, were expressing disapproval. Then Diederich asserted himself. With his huge stomach he pressed the enemy against the wall and bat- tered in his hat. Others joined in pummelling him, his hat fell to the ground, and soon the man himself lay there. As he moved on, Diederich remarked to his fellow-combatants: "That fellow has certainly not done his military service. He hasn't even got scars on his face; he has never fought a duel."

The old gentleman with the side-whiskers and the iron cross turned up again and shook Diederich 's hand.

"Bravo, young man, bravo!"

"Isn't it enough to make you mad," said Diederich, still

54 THE PATRIOTEER

furious, "when the fellow tries to spoil our historical mo- ment?"

"You have been in the army?" queried the old gentle- man.

"I would have liked nothing better than to stay there," Diederich replied.

"Ah, yes, it isn't every day that we have a Sedan." The old gentleman touched his iron cross. "That's what we did!"

Diederich stretched himself and pointed to the Emperor and the subdued crowd.

"That is as good as Sedan!"

"Hm, hm," said the old gentleman.

"Allow me, sir," cried some one, waving a notebook. "We must get that. A touch of atmosphere, y'understand? I suppose it was a damned radical you bashed?"

"Oh, a mere trifle"— Diederich was still boiling. "As far as I am concerned this would be the time to go straight for the domestic enemy. We have our Emperor with us."

"Fine," said the reporter as he wrote: "In the wildly agi- tated throng people of all classes were heard expressing their devoted loyalty and unshakable confidence in His Majesty."

"Hurrah!" shouted Diederich, for every one was shouting, and, caught in a great surge of shouting people, he was car- ried right along to the Brandenburger Tor. A few steps in front of him rode the Emperor. Diederich could see his face, its stony seriousness and flashing eyes, but he was shouting so much that his sight was blurred. An intoxication, higher and nobler than that which beer procured, raised his feet off the ground and carried him into the air. He waved his hat high above all heads, in a sphere of enthusiastic madness, in a heaven where our finest feelings move. There on the horse rode Power, through the gateway of triumphal entries, with dazzling features but graven as in stone. The Power which transcends us and whose hoofs we kiss, the Power which is beyond the reach of hunger, spite and mockery!

THE PATRIOTEER 55

Against it we are impotent, for we all love it! We have it in our blood, for in our blood is submission. We are an atom of that Power, a diminutive molecule of something it has given out. Each one of us is as nothing, but massed in ranks as Neo-Teutons, soldiers, bureaucrats, priests and scientists, as economic organisations and unions of power, we taper up like a pyramid to the point at the top where Power itself stands, graven and dazzling. In it we live and have our be- ing, merciless towards those who are remote beneath us, and triumphing even when we ourselves are crushed, for thus does power justify our love for it!

. . . One of the policemen lined up to keep a clear passage through the gateway gave Diederich a blow in the chest that took his breath away, but his eyes were full of the tumult of victory, as if he himself were riding away over all these wretches who had been cowed into swallowing their hunger. Let us follow him! Follow the Emperor ! They all felt as Die- derich did. A chain of policemen was 'too weak to restrain so much feeling. The people broke through. Beyond the gate was another chain, so they had to make a detour, find a gap, and reach the Tiergarten by a roundabout way. Only a few succeeded, and Diederich was alone when he stumbled onto the riding alley in the direction of the Emperor, who was also alone. A man in a very dangerous state of fanati- cism, dirty and torn, with wild eyes — from his horse the Emperor gave him a piercing glance which went through him. Diederich snatched his hat off, his mouth was wide open but not a sound came from it. As he came to a sudden stop he slipped and sat down violently in a puddle, with his legs in the air, splashed with muddy water. Then the Em- peror laughed. The fellow was a monarchist, a loyal subject! The Emperor turned to his escort, slapped his thigh and laughed. From the depths of his puddle Diederich stared after him, open-mouthed.

n

HE brushed his clothes carefully and turned away. A lady was sitting on a seat, and Diederich did not feel anxious to pass in front of her. To make matters worse, she kept look- ing towards him. "Silly fool," he thought angrily, but then he noticed an expression of great astonishment on her face and he recognised that it was Agnes Goppel.

"I have just met the Emperor," he began at once.

"The Emperor?" she asked abstractedly. With large, un- accustomed gestures he began to pour out the emotions which were choking him. Our magnificent young Emperor, all alone in the midst of a mob of revolutionaries! They had smashed up a cafe, and Diederich himself had been in it! He had fought bloody fights Unter den Linden for his Emperor! They ought to have turned machine guns on them!

"I suppose the people are hungry," said Agnes gravely. "They, too, are human beings."

"Do you call them human?" Diederich rolled his eyes in- dignantly. "They are the domestic enemy, that's what they are!" But he grew a little calmer when he saw Agnes start, again with fear.

"No doubt it amuses you to find all the streets barred on account of that mob."

No, that was most inconvenient for Agnes. She had had some errands in the city, but when she wanted to go back to Blucherstrasse there were no more buses running, and she could not get through anywhere. She had been pushed back to 'the Tiergarten. It was cold and wet; her father would be anxious; what was she to do? Diederich assured her that he would make it all right. They continued their way to-

56

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gether. All of a sudden he felt tongue-tied and kept looking about as if he had lost his way. They were alone amongst the leafless trees and the wet, withered foliage. Where was all the manly rapture which had previously filled him? Die- derich felt embarrassed, as he had been during that last walk with Agnes, when Mahlmann had warned him, and he had jumped on a bus, torn himself away and disappeared. Agnes was just saying: "It is a very, very long time since you came to see us. Didn't papa write to you?" Somewhat confused, Diederich explained that his own father had died. Now Agnes hastened to express her sympathy, then she went on to ask why he had suddenly disappeared three years ago.

"Isn't that so? It is nearly three years now."

Diederich recovered his self-possession and explained that his student life had taken up all his time, that it was a jolly strenuous business. "And then I had to do my military service."

"Oh!" — Agnes stared at him. "What a great man you have become! And now I suppose you have got your doctor's degree?"

"That will come very soon now."

He gazed discontentedly in front of him. The scars on his face, his broad shoulders, all the signs of his well-earned manliness — were these nothing to her? Did she not even no- tice them?

"But what about you?" he said suddenly. A faint blush suffused her thin, pale face and even the bridge of her small, aquiline nose, with its freckles.

"Yes, sometimes I don't feel very well, but I'll be all right again."

Diederich expressed his regrets.

"Of course I meant to say that you have become prettier" — and he looked at her red hair which escaped from under her hat, and seemed thicker than formerly because her face had become so thin. He was reminded of his former humilia-

58 [THE PATRIOTEER

tions and of how different things were now. Defiantly he asked: "How is Herr Mahlmann?"

Agnes assumed an air of contempt. "Do you still remem- ber him? If I were to see him again, I should not be par- ticularly pleased."

"Really? But he has a patent office and could very easily marry."

"Well, what of it?"

"But you used to be greatly interested in him."

"What makes you think that?"

"He was always giving you presents."

"I would have preferred not to take them, but then — " she looked down at the ground, at the wet fallen leaves — "then I could not have accepted your presents." She was frightened and said nothing more. Diederich felt that something serious had happened and was silent also.

"They were not worth talking about," he said finally, "a few flowers." And, with returning indignation: "Mahlmann even gave you a bracelet."

"I never wear it," said Agnes. His heart began to beat violently as he managed to say: "And if I had given it to you?"

Silence. He held his breath. Softly he heard her whisper: "In that case, yes."

Then they walked on more quickly and without speaking a word. They came to the Brandenburger Tor, saw that Unter den Linden was full of police and hurried past it, turn- ing into Dorotheenstrasse. Here there were few people about. Diederich slowed their pace and began to laugh.

"It is really very funny. Every present Mahlmann gave you was paid for with my money. I was still a greenhorn and he took everything from me."

She stood still. "Oh!"— and she gazed at him, her blue brown eyes tremulous. "That's dreadful. Can you forgive me?"

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He smiled in a superior way, and said that was ancient history, youthful follies.

"No, no," she said, quite disturbed.

Now, he said, the principal thing was: how was she to get home? They could not go any further this way either, and there were no more buses to be seen. "I am very sorry, but you will have to put up with my society a little longer. In any case, I live just near here. You could come up to my apartment, at least you would be dry there. But, of course, a young lady can't do such a thing."

She still had that beseeching look of hers. "You are too kind," said she, breathlessly. "You are so noble." And as they entered the house, she added: "I know I can trust you, can't I?"

"I know what I owe to the honour of my corps," Diederich declared.

They had to pass the kitchen, but there was no one in it. "Won't you take off your things until you go out again?" said Diederich graciously. He stood there without looking at Agnes, and while she was taking off her hat he stood first on one foot and then on the other.

"I must go and find the landlady and get her to make some tea." He had turned towards the door, but started back, for Agnes had seized his hand and kissed it. "Agnes," he murmured, terribly frightened, and he put his arm around her shoulder to console her. Then she nestled against his. He pressed his lips to her hair, and pressed them fairly hard, because he felt that was the right thing to it. Under that pressure her whole being quivered and shook, as if she had been struck. Through her thin blouse her body felt warm and moist. Diederich felt hot. He kissed Agnes's neck, but suddenly her face was turned up to his, with her lips parted, her eyes half closed and an expression which he had never seen before. It turned his head. "Agnes! Agnes! I love you," he cried, as if compelled by some deep emotion. She

60 THE PATRIOTEER

did not answer. Short, hot panting breaths came from her open mouth, and he felt that she was falling; as he carried her, she seemed to melt away.

She sat on the sofa and cried. "Don't be angry with me, Agnes," Diederich begged. Her eyes were wet as she looked at him. "I am crying with joy," said she. "I have waited so long for you."

"Why?" she asked, when he began to button her blouse, — "why do you cover me so soon? Do you no longer find me beautiful?"

He protested: "I am fully conscious of the responsibility I have undertaken."

"Responsibility?" Agnes queried. "Whose is it? I have loved you for three years, but you did not know it. It must have been our fate."

With his hands in his pockets Diederich was thinking that such is the fate of light-minded women. At the same time, he felt the need of hearing her repeat her protestations. "So I am really the only man you ever loved?"

"I saw that you did not believe me. It was terrible when I knew that you had stopped coming, and that everything was over. It was really awful. I wanted to write to you, to go and see you. I lost courage each time, because you might not want me any more. I was so run down that papa had to take me away."

"Where to?" asked Diederich, but Agnes did not answer. She drew him to her again. "Be good to me, I have no one but you!"

"Then you haven't got much," thought Diederich, embar- rassed. Agnes appeared greatly diminished in his eyes, and lowered in his estimation, since he had proof that she loved him. He also said to himself that one could not believe every- thing a girl said who behaved like that.

"And Mahlmann?" he queried mockingly. "There must

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have been something between you and him — Oh, well, we'll say no more about it," he concluded, as she drew herself up, dumbfounded with horror. He tried to make things right again, saying he was still completely mastered by his joy.

She dressed herself very slowly. "Your father will not know at all what has happened to you," said Diederich. She merely shrugged her shoulders. When she was ready, and he had opened the door, she stood for a moment and looked back into the room with a long glance, full of fear.

"Perhaps," she said, as if talking to herself, "I shall never see this room again. I feel as if I were going to die to-night."

"Why do you say that?" asked Diederich aggrievedly. In- stead of replying she clung to him again, her lips pressed to his, their two bodies so closely held together that they seemed but one. Diederich waited patiently. She broke away from him, opened her eyes and said: "You must not think that I expect anything from you. I love you and that is enough."

He offered to call a cab for her, but she preferred to walk. On the way he inquired after her family and other acquaint- ances. But by the time they had reached the Belle Alliance Platz he began to feel uneasy, and in rather muffled tones he said: "Of course you must not think that I want to evade my responsibility to you. But, you understand, for the moment I am not earning anything, and I must get fixed up and get into harness at the factory. . . ."

Agnes answered quietly and gratefully, as if a favour had been conferred upon her: "How nice it would be if I could become your wife later on."

When they turned into Bliicherstrasse he stopped. Hesi- tatingly he suggested it would probably be better if he turned back.

"Because some one might see us? That wouldn't matter at all, for I must explain at home that I met you and that we waited together in a cafe till the streets were clear."

63 THE PATRIOTEER

"She is certainly a clever liar," thought Diederich. She added: "You are invited to dinner on Sunday, you must be sure to come."

This was too much for him, he started. "I must — ? I am invited to — ?" She smiled softly and shyly. "It cannot be avoided. If any one ever saw us — Do you not want me to come to you again?"

Oh, yes, he did. Nevertheless, she had to persuade him until he promised to put in an appearance. In front of her house, he said good-bye with a formal bow, and turned quickly away. "Women of that type," he thought, "are terribly subtle. I won't have too much to do with her." Meanwhile he no- ticed with reluctance that it was time to meet his friends for a drink. For some reason he was longing to be home. When he had shut the door of his room behind him he stood and stared into the darkness. Suddenly he raised his arms, turned his face upwards and breathed a long sigh: "Agnes!"

He felt entirely changed, as light as if he trod on air. "I am terribly happy," was his thought, and "never in my life again shall I experience anything so wonderful!" He was con- vinced that until then, until that moment, he had looked at things from a wrong angle, and had wrongly estimated them. Now his friends were drinking and giving themselves an air of importance. What did it matter about the Jews and the unemployed? Why should he hate them? Diederich even felt prepared to love them! Was it really he who had spent the day in a struggling mob of people whom he had regarded as enemies? They were human beings; Agnes was right. Was it really he who, for the sake of a few words, had beaten some- body, had bragged, lied and foolishly over-exerted himself, and who had finally thrown himself, torn and stunned, in the mud before a gentleman on horseback, the Emperor, who had laughed at him? He recognised that, until Agnes came, his life had been helpless, poor and meaningless. Efforts

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which seemed those of another than himself, feelings which shamed him, and nobody whom he could love — until Agnes came! "Agnes! my sweet Agnes, you do not know how much I love you!" But she would have to know. He felt that he would never again be able to tell her so well as in this hour, and he wrote a letter. He wrote that he, too, had waited for her these three years, and that he had had no hope be- cause she was too fine, too good, too beautiful for him; that he had said what he did about Mahlmann out of cowardice and spite, that she was a saint, and, now that she had con- descended to him, he lay at her feet. "Lift me up, Agnes, I can be strong, I know I can, and I will dedicate my whole life to you!" He began to cry, pressing his face into the sofa cushion where her perfume still lingered, and sobbing like a child he fell asleep.

In the morning, it is true, he was astonished and irritated at not finding himself in bed. His great adventure came back to his mind and sent a delicious thrill through his blood to his heart. At the same time the suspicion seized him that he had been guilty of unpleasant exaggerations. He re-read his letter. It was all right and a man could really lose his head when he suddenly had an affair with such a fine girl. If she had only been there now he would have treated her tenderly. Still it was better not to send that letter. It was imprudent in every way. In the end Papa Goppel would intercept it. ... Diederich shut the letter up in his desk. "I forgot all about eating yesterday!" He ordered a substantial breakfast. "I did not smoke either in order to preserve her perfume. But that's absurd; such things aren't done." He lit a cigar and went off to the laboratory. He resolved to release what was weighing on his heart in music rather than in words, for such lofty words were unmanly and uncomfortable. He hired a piano and tried his hand at Schubert and Beethoven with much more success than at his music lessons.

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On Sunday when he rang at GoppePs it was Agnes herself who opened the door. "The girl seemed in no hurry to leave the kitchen range/' said she; but her glance told the real rea- son. Not knowing what to say, Diederich allowed his eyes to wander to the silver bracelet which she rattled as if to draw his attention.

"Do you not recognise it?" Agnes whispered. He blushed. "The present from Mahlmann?"

"The present from you. This is the first time I have worn it." Suddenly he felt the warm pressure of her hand, then the door of the drawing-room opened. Herr Goppel turned to meet him: "Here is the man who deserted us!" But scarcely had he seen Diederich than his manner altered and he regretted his familiarity. "Really, Herr Hessling, I should hardly have known you again!" Diederich looked at Agnes as much as to say: "You see, he notices that I am no longer a callow youth."

"Everything is unchanged with you," Diederich observed, and he greeted the sisters and brother-in-law of Herr Goppel. In reality he found them all appreciably older, especially Herr Goppel, who was not so lively, and whose cheeks were un- healthily fat. The children were bigger and some one seemed to be missing from the room. "Yes, indeed," concluded Herr Goppel, "time passes, but old friends always meet again."

"If you only knew in what circumstances," Diederich thought contemptuously as they went in to dinner. When the roast veal was brought on, it finally dawned upon him who used to sit opposite to him. It was the aunt who had so haughtily asked him what he was studying, and who did not know that chemistry and physics were two entirely different things. Agnes, who sat on his right, explained to him that this aunt had been dead for two years. Diederich murmured words of sympathy, but his private reflection was: "One more chatterbox the less." It seemed to him as if every one present had been punished and buffeted by fate, he alone had been

THE PATRIOTEER 65

raised in accordance with his merits. He swept Agnes from head to foot with a glance of possession.

As on the former occasion, they had to wait this time for the sweets. Agnes kept looking uneasily at the door and Diederich saw a shadow in her lovely blue eyes, as if some- thing serious had happened. He suddenly felt the deepest sympathy for her and an immense tenderness. He rose and shouted through the door: "Marie! the custard!"

When he returned Herr Goppel drank to him. "You did the same thing before. Here you are like one of the family. Isn't that so, Agnes?" Agnes thanked Diederich with a glance which stirred his heart to the depths. He had to control himself to prevent tears from coming into his eyes. How kindly her relatives smiled at him. The brother-in-law clinked glasses with him. What good-hearted people! and Agnes, darling Agnes, loved him! He was unworthy of so much kindness! His conscience pricked him and he vaguely re- solved to speak to Herr Goppel afterwards.

Unfortunately, after dinner Herr Goppel began again to talk about the riots. When we had at last shaken off the pressure of the Bismarckian jackboot there was no necessity to irritate the workers with flamboyant speeches. The young man (that was how Herr Goppel referred to the Emperor!) will talk until he has brought a revolution upon our heads. . . . Diederich found himself compelled to repudiate most sharply such fault-finding, on behalf of the young men who stood steadfast and true by their magnificent young Emperor. His Majesty himself had said: "I welcome heartily those who want to help me. I will smash those who oppose me." As he said this Diederich tried to flash his eyes. Herr Goppel declared that he would await events.

"In these difficult times," Diederich continued, "every one must stand forth in his true colours." He struck an attitude in front of the admiring Agnes.

"What do you mean by difficult times?" Herr Goppel asked.

66 THE PATRIOTEER

"The times are difficult only when we make life difficult for one another. I have always got on perfectly well with my workmen."

Diederich expressed his determination to introduce entirely different methods at home in his factory. There will be no room for social democrats, and on Sunday the people would have to go to church! — "So that is also included," said Herr Goppel. He could not expect such a thing from his people, when he himself went only on Good Friday. "Am I to fool them? Christianity is all right, but nobody believes any more all the stuff the parsons talk." Then Diederich's countenance assumed the most superior expression.

"My dear Herr Goppel, all I can say is this: what the pow- ers that be, and especially my esteemed friend, Assessor von Barnim, consider it right to believe, I also believe — uncondi- tionally. That's all I have to say."

The brother-in-law, who was a civil servant, suddenly took Diederich's side. Herr Goppel was already considerably ex- cited when Agnes interrupted with coffee. "Well, how do you like my cigars?" Herr Goppel tapped Diederich's knee. "Don't you see, we are at one where human things are con- cerned." Diederich thought: "Especially as I am, so to speak, one of the family."

He gradually relaxed his uncompromising attitude, it was all so very cosy and comfortable. Herr Goppel wanted to know when Diederich would be "finished" and a doctor. He could not understand that a chemistry thesis took two years and more. Diederich launched into phrases which nobody understood about the difficulties of reaching a solution. He had the notion that Herr Goppel, for definite reasons of his own, was most anxious that he should receive his degree. Agnes seemed to notice this, too, for she intervened and turned the conversation on to other topics. When Diederich had said good-bye she accompanied him to the door and whis- pered: "To-morrow, at three o'clock at your rooms."

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From sheer joy he seized her and kissed her, between the two doors, while immediately beside them the servant was clat- tering the dishes. She asked sadly: "Do you never think of what would happen to me if some one were to come now?" He was taken aback, and as a proof that she had forgiven him, he asked for another kiss. She gave it to him.

At three o'clock Diederich used to return to the laboratory from the cafe. Instead he was back in his room at two, and she did come before three o'clock. "Neither of us could wait! we love one another so much!" It was nicer, much nicer than the first time. No more tears nor fears, and the room was flooded with sunshine. Diederich loosened Agnes's hair in the sun and buried his face in it.

She stayed until it was almost too late to make the pur- chases which had served as an excuse at home. She had to run. Diederich, who ran with her, was greatly concerned lest any harm should come to her. But she laughed, looked rosy, and called him her bear. And so ended every day on which she came. They were always happy. Herr Goppel noticed that Agnes was looking better than ever and this made him feel younger. For that reason the Sundays were also jollier. They stayed on till evening, then punch was made. Diederich played Schubert or he and the brother-in-law sang students' songs while Agnes accompanied them. Sometimes these two glanced at each other and it seemed to them both that it was their happiness which was being celebrated.

It came about that in the laboratory the porter would come and inform him that a lady was waiting outside. He got up at once, blushing proudly under the knowing looks of his colleagues. Then they wandered off, went to the cafes and to the picture gallery. As Agnes was fond of pictures Die- derich discovered that there were such things as exhibitions. Agnes loved to stand in front of a picture that pleased her, a picture of a tender, festive landscape from more beautiful

<58 THE PATRIOTEER

•countries, and with half-closed eyes to share her dreams with Diederich.

"If you look properly you'll see that it is not a frame, it is a gate with golden stairs and we are going down them and across the road ; we are bending back the hawthorn bushes and stepping into the boat. Don't you feel how it rocks? That's because we're trailing our hands in the water, it is so warm. Up there, on the hill, the white point, you know, is our house, that is our destination. Look, do you see?"

"Oh, yes," said Diederich with enthusiasm. He screwed up his eyes and saw everything that Agnes wished. He got so enthusiastic that he seized her hand to dry it. Then they sat in a corner and talked of the journeys they would make, of untroubled happiness in distant sunny lands, and of love without end. Diederich believed everything he said. At bot- tom he knew very well that he was destined to work and to lead a practical existence without much leisure for superflui- ties. But what he said here was true in a higher sense than everything that he knew. The real Diederich, the man he should have been, spoke the truth. But when they stood up to go Agnes was pale and seemed tired. Her lovely blue eyes had a brightness which made Diederich feel uncomforta- ble, and in a trembling whisper she asked: "Supposing our boat overturned?"

"Then I would rescue you!" replied Diederich with reso- lution.

"But it is far from the shore and the water is frightfully deep." And when he seemed powerless to make any sugges- tion: "We'd have to drown. Tell me, would you like to die with me?"

Diederich looked at her and shut his eyes. "Yes," he said with a sigh.

Afterwards he regretted having talked like that. He had noticed the reason why Agnes suddenly had to get into a cab and drive home. She was flushed and pale by turns and tried

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to hide how much she was coughing. Then Diederich regret- ted the. whole afternoon. Such things were unhealthy, led nowhere except to unpleasantness. His professor had begun to hear about the lady's visits. It wouldn't do for her to take him from his work whenever the whim seized her. He ex- plained the whole matter to her patiently. "I suppose you are right," she said. "Normal people must have regular hours. But what if I must come to you now at half-past five when I feel inclined to love you most at four?"

He sensed a joke in this, perhaps even contempt, and was rude. He had no use for a sweetheart who wished to hinder him in his career. He had not counted on that. Then Agnes begged his pardon. She would be quite humble and would wait for him in his room. If he still had anything to do, he need have no consideration for her. Diederich was shamed by this, he softened and abandoned himself with Agnes in complaints against the world which was not made entirely for love. "Is there no alternative?" Agnes asked. "You have a little money and so have I. Why worry about making a position for yourself? We could be so happy together." Die- derich agreed, but afterwards he cherished a grievance against her. He used to keep her waiting deliberately. He even declared that going to political meetings was a duty which took precedence over his meetings with Agnes. One evening in May, as he returned home late, he met a young man at the door in a volunteer's uniform, who looked at him in a hesitat- ing manner. "Herr Diederich Hessling?" — "Oh, yes," Die- derich stammered. "You are Herr Wolfgang Buck, aren't you?"

The youngest son of the great man of Netzig had at last decided to obey his father's orders and call on Diederich. The latter took him upstairs, as he could not think at once of an excuse to get rid of him, and there sat Agnes! On the landing he raised his voice so that she could hear him and hide. In fear and trembling he opened the door. There was

70 THE PATRIOTEER

nobody in the room, even her hat was not on the bed, but Diederich knew very well that she had been there a moment previously. He knew it by the chair which was not in its exact place. And he felt it in the air which seemed still to vibrate gently from the swish of her skirts. She must have gone into the little windowless room where his washstand was. He pushed a chair in front of it and with peevish embarrass- ment grumbled about his landlady who hadn't cleaned out his room. Wolfgang Buck hinted that perhaps his visit was un- timely. "Oh, no!" Diederich assured him, and he asked his visitor to be seated and got some cognac. Buck apologised for calling at such an unusual hour, but his military service left him no choice. "Oh, I quite understand that," said Diederich, and, in order to anticipate awkward questions, he began at once to explain that he had a year's service behind him, that he was delighted with the army, for it was the life. How lucky were those who could stay in it ! He, unfortunately, was called by family duties. Buck smiled, a gentle, sceptical smile which irritated Diederich. "Well, of course, there were the officers, they, at least, were people with good manners."

"Do you frequent them?" Diederich asked with ironical intention. Buck explained simply that he was invited from time to time to the officers' mess. He shrugged his shoulders: "I go because I think it is useful to look at everything. On the other hand, I mix a good deal with socialists." He smiled again. "Sometimes I think I'd like to be a general, and sometimes a Labour leader. I am curious to know myself on which side of the fence I shall come down," he concluded, emp- tying his second glass of cognac. "What a disgusting person," thought Diederich. "And Agnes is in the dark room!" Then he said: "With your means it is open to you to get elected to the Reichstag or anything else you like. I am destined for practical work. Anyhow, I regard the Social Democrats as my enemies, for they are the enemies of the Emperor."

"Are you quite sure about that?" queried Buck. "I rather

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suspect the Emperor of having a secret affection for the Social Democrats. He himself would like to have become the chief Labour leader. But they wouldn't have him."

Diederich was frantic with indignation, saying it was an insult to His Majesty. But Buck was not in the least put out. "Don't you remember how he threatened Bismarck that he would withdraw military protection from the rich. In the beginning, at least, he had the same grudge against the rich as the workers, though, of course, for very different reasons, namely, because he cannot stand any one else having power."

Buck anticipated the protest which he read in Diederich's face. "Please don't imagine," he said with animation, "that I speak with any hostility. It is tenderness, rather, a sort of hostile tenderness, if you wish."

"I am afraid I don't understand," said Diederich.

"Well, you know, the sort of thing one feels for a person in whom one recognises one's own defects or, if you like, vir- tues. At all events, we young men are all like our Emperor nowadays, we want to realise our own personality, but we know very well that the future is to the masses. There will be no more Bismarcks and no more Lassalles. Probably it is the most gifted among us who would deny this to-day. He would certainly deny it. When power comes into the hands of such a multitude, it would be really suicidal not to ex- aggerate one's personal value. But in the depths of his soul he must certainly have his doubts about the part which he has arrogated to himself."

"The part?" Diederich asked, but Buck did not hear him.

"It is a role which can lead him very far, for it must appear a damned paradox in the world as it is to-day. The world expects nothing more from any individual than from its neighbours. The general level is important, not the ex- ceptional, and least of all, great men."

"I beg your pardon!" cried Diederich, striking his chest. "And what about the German Empire? Should we have had

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that without great men? The Hohenzollerns are always great men." Buck screwed up his mouth in a melancholy and sceptical smile. "Then they had better look out for them- selves and so had we. In his own sphere the Emperor is facing the same question as I. Shall I become a general and fashion my whole life in view of a war which, so far as we can see, will never happen? Or shall I become a more or less gifted Labour leader, while the people are at the stage where they can do without men of genius? Both would be romantic, and romance notoriously ends in bankruptcy." Buck drank two more glasses of cognac in succession.

"What, then, am I to do?"

"A drunkard," thought Diederich. He debated with himself whether it was not his duty to pick a quarrel with Buck. But Buck was in uniform, and perhaps the noise would have frightened Agnes out of her hiding-place. Then, goodness knows what might happen! In any case he determined to make an exact note of Buck's remarks. Holding such opin- ions, did the man really believe that he could get on? Diede- rich remembered that in school Buck's German compositions had aroused in him a deep, if inexplicable, mistrust; they were too clever. "That's it," he thought, "he has remained the same, an intellectual, and so is the whole family." Old Buck's wife was a Jewess and had been an actress. After the event Diede- rich felt humiliated by the benevolent condescension of old Buck at his father's funeral. The son also humiliated him constantly and in all things: by his superior phrases, by his manners, by his intercourse with the officers. Was he a von Barnim? He was only from Netzig like Diederich himself. "I hate the whole lot of them!" From beneath his half- closed eyelids Diederich observed his fleshy face with its gently curved nose and moist, shining eyes, full of dreams. Buck rose: "Well, we'll meet again at home. I shall pass my ex- amination next term, or the term after, and then what is there to do but be a lawyer in Netzig? And you?" he asked.

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Diederich solemnly explained that he did not intend to waste his time and would finish his doctor's thesis by summer. Then he saw Buck to the door. "You are only a silly fool after all," he said to himself, "you didn't notice that I had a girl with me." He returned, pleased at his superiority to Buck, and to Agnes who had waited in the darkness and had not uttered a sound.

When he opened the door, however, she was leaning over a chair, her breast was heaving and with her handkerchief she was stifling her gasps. She looked at him with reddened eyes, and he saw that she had almost choked in there, and had cried — while he was sitting out here drinking and talking a lot of nonsense. His first impulse was one of immense remorse. She loved him! There she sat, loving him so much, that she bore everything! He was on the point of raising his arms and throwing himself before her, weeping and begging her pardon. He restrained himself just in time from fear of the scene and the sentimental mood which would follow, and would cost him more of his working time and would give her the upper hand. He would not give her that satisfaction. For, of course, she was exaggerating on purpose. So he kissed her hastily on the forehead and said: "Here already? I did not see you arriving at all." She gave a start, as if she were going to reply, but she remained silent. Whereupon he ex- plained that some one had just gone out. "One of those young Jews trying to make himself important! Simply dis- gusting." Diederich rushed about the room. In order not to look at Agnes, he went quicker and quicker and talked with increasing violence. "Those people are our deadliest ene- mies! With their so-called refined education they paw every- thing which is sacred to us Germans! A damn Jew like that may consider himself fortunate when we put up with him. Let him swot his law books and keep his mouth shut. I don't care a rap for his high-brow smartness!" He screamed still louder, with the intention of Hurting Agnes. As she did not

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answer, he tried a new line of attack. "It all comes because every one now finds me at home. On your account I am con- stantly obliged to hang around the place!"

Agnes replied timidly: "We have not seen one another for six days. On Sunday again, you didn't come. I am afraid you don't love me any more." He came to a standstill in front of her. Very condescendingly: "My dear child, I imag- ine it is hardly necessary for me to assure you that I love you. But it is quite another question whether I, therefore, wish to watch your aunts at their crochet every Sunday, and to talk politics with your father, who doesn't understand the slightest thing about it." Agnes bowed her head. "It used to be so nice. You got on so well with papa." Diederich turned his back on her and looked out of the window. That was just it: he was afraid of being on too good terms with Herr Goppel. He knew from his bookkeeper, old Sotbier, that GoppePs business was going down. His cellulose was no good, and Sotbier no longer gave him any orders. Clearly a son- in-law like Diederich would have suited him most beautifully. Diederich had the sensation of being involved with these peo- ple. With Agnes, too. He suspected her of working in con- junction with the old man. Indignantly he turned to her again. "Another thing, my dear child, let us be honest: what we two do is our affair, isn't it? So don't drag your father into it. The relations which exist between us must not be mixed up with family friendship. My moral sense demands that the two shall be kept entirely separate." A moment passed, then Agnes rose as if she at last understood. Her cheeks were crimson. She walked towards the door and Die- derich caught up on her. "But I didn't mean it that way, Agnes. It was only because I had too much respect for you — and I shall really be able to come on Sunday." She let him talk, unmoved. "Now, do be pleasant again," he begged. "You haven't even taken off your hat." She did so. He asked her to sit down on the sofa and she obeyed. She

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kissed him, too, as he desired. But though her lips smiled and kissed, her eyes were staring and unresponsive. Sud- denly she seized him in her arms; he was frightened, for he did not know if it was hate that moved her. But then he felt that she loved him more passionately than ever.

"To-day was really beautiful, wasn't it, my dear, sweet little Agnes?" Diederich asked, happy and contented. "Good-bye," said she, hastily seizing her bag and umbrella while he was still dressing himself.

"You're in a great hurry. — I suppose there is nothing more I can do for you?" She was already at the door, when sud- denly she fell with her shoulders against the door post and did not move. "What's wrong?" When Diederich approached he saw that she was sobbing. He touched her. "Yes, what is the matter with you?" Then she began to cry loudly and convulsively. She did not stop. "Agnes, dear," said Diederich from time to time. "What has happened all of a sudden? We were so happy." He did not know what to do. "What have I done to you?" Between spasms of crying which half choked her, she managed to say: "I can't help it. Forgive me." He carried her to the sofa. When the crisis was over Agnes was ashamed. "Forgive me, it is not my fault." — "It is mine! " — "No, no. It is my nerves. I am sorry! "

Full of patience and sympathy he saw her to a cab. Look- ing back on it, however, the affair seemed to him half play- acting, and one of the tricks which would catch him in the end. He could not get rid of the feeling that plans were be- ing laid against his freedom and his future. He defended him- self with rude behaviour, insistence upon his manly independ- ence, and by his coldness whenever her mood was sentimental. On Sundays at GoppePs he was on his guard as if in an ene- my's country; he was correct and unapproachable. When would his research work be finished, they would ask. He might find a solution the next day or in two years, he him- self didn't know. He stressed the fact that in the future he

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would be financially dependent upon his mother. For a long time yet he would have no time for anything but business. When Herr Goppel reminded him of the ideal values in life, Diederich repelled him sharply. "Only yesterday I sold my Schiller. My head is screwed on the right way and I can't be fooled." Whenever, after such speeches, he felt the silent reproach of Agnes 's glance upon him, he would feel for a moment as if some one else had spoken and he was living in a fog, speaking falsely and acting against his own will. But that feeling passed off.

Whenever he ordered her, Agnes came, and she left when- ever it was time for him to go off to work or to drink. She no longer enticed him to day-dreams in front of pictures after he had once stopped in front of a sausage shop, and had de- clared that this spectacle was for him the highest form of artistic enjoyment. At last it occurred even to him that they saw one another very seldom. He reproached her because she no longer insisted on coming more often. "You used to be quite different." "I must wait," said she. "Wait for what?" "Until you are again like you used to be. Oh, I am quite certain that you will be."

He remained silent for fear of having explanations. Never- theless, things came about as she had predicted. His work was finally finished and accepted. He had still to pass only an unimportant oral examination, and he was in the exalted frame of mind of one who has passed a turning point. When Agnes came with her congratulations and some roses he burst into tears and vowed that he would love her always and for ever. She announced that Herr Go'ppel was just starting on a business trip for several days. "And the weather is so per- fectly lovely just now. . . ." Diederich at once accepted the hint. "We have never had such an opportunity. We must make use of it." They decided to go out into the country. Agnes knew of a place called Mittenwalde; it must be lonely there and as romantic as the name. "We shall be together

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all clay long!" — "And the whole night, too," added Diederich.

Even the station from which they started was out of the way and the train was small and old-fashioned. They had the carriage to themselves. The day slowly darkened, the guard lit a dim lamp for them, and held close in one another's arms they gazed silently with wide-open eyes at the flat, monotonous fields. Oh, to go out there on foot, far away, and lose oneself in the kindly darkness! They almost got out at a little village with a handful of houses. The jovial guard held them back, asking if they wanted to sleep under a hayrick all night. Then they reached their destination. The inn had a great yard, a spacious dining-room lit with oil lamps hanging from the rafters, and a genial innkeeper, who called Agnes "gnadige Frau" with a sly, Slavic smile, full of secret sympathy and understanding. After eating they would have liked to go upstairs at once, but they did not dare to do so and obediently turned the pages of the magazines which their host laid be- fore them. As soon as he had turned his back, they exchanged a glance and in the twinkling of an eye they were on the stairs. The lamp had not yet been lit in the room and the door was still open, but they already lay in one another's arms.

Very early in the morning the sun streamed into the room. Down in the yard the fowl were pecking and fluttering on the table in front of the summer house. "Let us have break- fast there!" They went downstairs. How delightfully warm it was. A delicious smell of hay came from the barn. Cof- fee and bread tasted fresher to them than usual. Their hearts were so free and life stood open before them. They wanted to walk for hours and the innkeeper had to tell them the names of the streets and villages. They joyfully praised his house and his beds. He assumed they were on their honey- moon. "Quite right," they said, laughing heartily.

The cobblestones of the main street stretched themselves upwards and were gaily coloured by the summer sun. The

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houses were uneven, crooked, and so small that the roads between them gave the impression of a field dotted with stones. The bell in the general dealer's shop tinkled for a long time after the strangers had left. A few people, dressed in semi- fashionable style, glided amongst the shadows and turned to look after Agnes and Diederich, who felt proud, for they were the most elegantly dressed in the place. Agnes discovered the milliner's shop with the hats of the fine ladies. "It is in- credible! Those were the fashion in Berlin three years ago!" Then they went through a shaky looking gateway out into the country. The mowers were at work in the fields. The sky was blue and oppressive, and the swallows swam in the heavens as if in stagnant water. The peasants' cottages in the distance were bathed in a warm haze, and a wood stood out darkly with blue pathways. Agnes and Diederich took one another's hands and without premeditation they began to sing a song for wandering children, which they remembered from their school-days. Diederich assumed a deep voice to excite Agnes's admiration. When they could not remember any more their faces met and they kissed as they walked.

"Now I can see properly how pretty you are," said Diede- rich, looking tenderly into her rosy face, her bright eyes glit- tering like stars beneath their fair lashes. "Summer weather always agrees with me," replied Agnes with a deep breath which filled out her lungs. She looked slim as she walked along, with slender hips, her blue scarf floating behind her. It was too warm for Diederich, who first took off his coat, then his waistcoat, and finally admitted that he would have to walk in the shade. They found shelter along the edge of a field in which the corn was still standing, and under an acacia which was in bloom, Agnes sat down and laid Diede- rich's head in her lap. They played for a while with each other and joked: suddenly she noticed that he had fallen asleep.

He woke up, looked about him, and when he saw Agnes's

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face he beamed with delight. "Dearest," said she, "what a good-natured, silly old face you have." — "Come now, I can't have slept more than five minutes. What, really, have I been asleep for an hour? Were you bored?" But she was more astonished than he that the time had passed so quickly. He withdrew his head from beneath the hand which she had laid upon his hair when he fell asleep.

They went back amongst the fields. In one place a dark mass was lying. When they peered through the stalks, they saw it was an old man in a fur cap, rusty coat and corduroy trousers also of reddish hue. He was crouching on his haunches and had twisted his beard round his knees. They bent down lower to get a better look at him. Then they noticed that he had been gazing at them for some time with dark, glowing eyes like live coals. In spite of themselves they hastened on, and in the glances which they exchanged they read the fear of frightened children. They looked about them: they were in a vast strange land, away in the distance behind them the little town looked unfamiliar as it slept in the sun, and by the sky it seemed as if they had been travelling day and night.

What an adventure! Lunch was in the summer house of the inn, with the sun, the fowl, and the open kitchen win- dow through which the plates were passed out to Agnes! Where was the bourgeois orderliness of Bliicherstrasse, where Diederich's hereditary Kneiptisch? "I will never leave here," declared Diederich, "and I won't let you leave." "Why should we?" she answered. "I will write to father and have the letter sent to him by my married friend in Kiistrin. Then he will think I am there."

Later they went out for a walk again in the other direc- tion, where the water ran and the sails of three windmills stood out on the horizon. A boat lay on the canal, and they hired it and drifted along. A swan came towards them, and their boat and the swan glided past one another noiselessly,

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coming to a stop of its own accord beneath the overhanging bushes. Suddenly Agnes asked about Diederich's mother and sisters. He said that they had always been good to him and that he loved them. He was going to have his sisters' photo- graphs sent. They had grown up into pretty girls, or perhaps not pretty, but so nice and gentle. One of them, Emma, read poetry like Agnes. Diederich was going to look after them both and get them married. But he would keep his mother with him, for he owed to her all that was best in his life until Agnes came. He told her about the twilight hours, the fairy tales beneath the Christmas trees of his childhood, and even about the prayers which he said "from his heart." Agnes lis- tened, sunk in thought. At last she sighed: "I would like to meet your mother. I never knew my own." Full of pity he kissed her respectfully and with an obscure sense of uneasy conscience. He felt that he had now to say but one word which would console her for ever. But he could not speak, and put it off. Agnes gave him a profound look. "I know," she said slowly, "but you are good at heart, only sometimes you must act differently." Her words made him start. Then she concluded by way of apology: "I am not afraid of you to-day."

"Are you afraid at other times?" he questioned remorse- fully.

"I am always afraid when other people are jolly and in the highest spirits. Formerly with my friends I often used to feel as if I could not keep pace with them, and that they would notice it and despise me. But they did not notice any- thing. When I was a child I had a doll with big, blue glass eyes, and when my mother died I had to sit in the next room with my doll. It kept staring at me with its hard, wide-open eyes that seemed to say to me: 'Your mother is dead. Now every one will look at you as I do.' I would like to have laid it on its back so that the eyes would close. But I didn't

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dare to do so. Could I have laid the people too on their backs? They all have such eyes and sometimes — " She hid her face on his breast, "Even you have."

He felt a lump in his throat. His hand sought her neck and his voice trembled. "Agnes! my sweetest, you cannot know how much I love you. ... I was afraid of you, indeed I was! For three whole years I longed for you, but you were too beautiful for me, too fine, too good. . . ." His heart melted and he told her everything that he had written to her after her first visit, in the letter which still lay in his desk. She had raised herself and was listening to him enchanted, with her lips parted. Softly she rejoiced: "I knew it, you are like that, you are like me!"

"We belong to one another," said Diederich, pressing her to him, but he was frightened by his own words. "Now," he thought, "she will expect me to speak!" He wanted to do so, but felt powerless. The pressure of his arms around her back grew weaker. . . . She made a movement and he knew that she no longer expected him to speak. They drew away from one another with averted faces. Suddenly Diederich buried his face in his hands and sobbed. She did not ask why, but soothingly stroked his hair. That lasted quite a while.

Speaking over his head into space, Agnes said: "Did I ever say that I thought it would last? It must end badly because it has been so beautiful." He broke out in desperation. "But it is not over!"

"Do you believe in luck?" she asked.

"Never again, if I lose you!"

She murmured: "You will go away out into the world and forget me."

"I would rather die!" — and he drew her closer. She whis- pered against his cheek:

"Look how wide the water is here, like a lake. Our boat has got loose of itself and has led us far out. Do you still

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remember that picture? and that lake on which we once sailed in a dream? Whither, I wonder?" And more softly: "Whither are we drifting?"

He did not answer any more. Wrapped in one another's arms, and lips pressed against lips, they sank backwards deeper and deeper over the water. Was he dragging her? Was she pushing him? Never had they been so united. Now, Dieder- ich felt, it was right. He had not been noble enough, not trustful enough, not brave enough, to live with Agnes. Now he had risen to her, now all was well.

Suddenly came a bump and they started up. Diederich's movement was so violent that Agnes had fallen from his arms to the bottom of the boat. He drew his hand across his forehead. "What on earth was that?" Shivering with fright he looked away from her, as if he had been insulted. "One should not be so careless in a boat." He allowed her to get up by herself, seized the oars at once and rowed back. Agnes kept her face turned towards the shore. Once she ventured a glance at him, but he looked at her with such harsh, mis- trustful eyes that she shuddered.

In the darkening twilight they walked faster and faster back along the high road. Towards the end they were almost run- ning. It was not until it was so dark as to hide their faces that they spoke. Perhaps Herr Goppel was coming home early the next morning. Agnes had to get back. ... As they arrived at the inn, the whistle of the train could be heard in the distance. "We can't even eat together again," cried Diederich, with forced regret. In a terrible fluster their things were got, the bill was paid and they were off. They had scarcely taken their seats when the train started. It was fortunate that it took them some time to get their breath and to talk over the hasty questions of the last quarter of an hour. They had nothing more to say, and there they sat alone under the dim light as if stunned by a great mishap. Was it that sombre country out there which had once enticed them and promised happiness?

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That must have been yesterday? It was now irrevocably past. Would the lights of the city never come to release them?

By the time they had arrived they had agreed that it was not worth while getting into the same cab. Diederich took the tram. With the merest glance and touch of the hands they separated.

"Phew!" exclaimed Diederich, when he was alone. "That has settled it." He said to himself: "It might just as well have gone wrong." Then, indignantly: "Such an hysterical person!" She herself would probably have clung to the boat. He would have taken a bath alone. She only hit on the trick because she wanted to be married at all costs! "Women are so impetuous and they are without restraints. We men cannot keep up with them. This time, by God, she led me an even worse dance than formerly with Mahlmann. Well, let it be a lesson to me for life. Never again!" With assured gait he betook himself to the Neo-Teutons. Henceforth he spent every evening there, and in the day time he ground for his oral examination, not at home, as a precaution, but in the laboratory. When he did come home he found it laborious to mount the stairs, and he had to admit that his heart was beating abnormally. Tremblingly he opened the door of his room — nothing. In the beginning, after it had become a little easier, he ended regu- larly by asking the landlady if any one had called. Nobody had called.

A fortnight later a letter came. He opened it without think- ing, then he felt inclined to throw it into the drawer of his writing table without reading it. He did so, but then took it out again and held it in front of his face at arm's length. His hasty and suspicious glance caught a line here and there. "I am so unhappy. . . ." "We've heard all that before," Diede- rich thought in reply. "I am afraid to come to you. . . ." "So much the better for you!" "It is dreadful to think we have become strangers to one another. . . ." "Well, you've grasped that much anyhow." "Forgive me for what has hap-

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pened, if anything has happened. . . ." "Quite enough!" "I cannot go on living. ..." "Are you beginning that all over again?" Finally he hurled the sheet of paper into the drawer with that other letter which he had filled with exaggerations during a night of madness, but which he had fortunately not posted.

A week later, as he was coming home late, he heard steps be- hind him which sounded peculiar. He turned round with a start and the figure stood still with raised hands stretched out empty before it. While he opened the street door and stepped in he could still see it standing in the shadow. He was afraid to turn on the light in the room. While she stood out there in the dark, looking up, he was ashamed to light up the room which had belonged to her. It was raining. How many hours had she been waiting? She was probably still there, waiting with her last hope. This was more than he could stand. He was tempted to open the window, but he refrained. Then he suddenly found himself on the stairs with the key of the street door in his hand. He had just enough will power to turn back. He shut his. door and undressed. "Pull yourself to- gether, old chap!" This time it would not be so easy to ex- tricate oneself from the affair. No doubt the girl was to be pitied, but after all it was her doing. "Above all things, I must remember my duty to myself." The next morning, hav- ing slept badly, he even held it as a grievance against her that she had once more tried to make him deviate from his proper course. Now, of all times, when his examination was immi- nent! It was very like her to behave in this unconscionable fashion. That scene in the night, when she had seemed like a beggar in the rain, had transformed her into a suspicious and uncanny apparition. He regarded her as definitely fallen. "Never again, not on your life!" he assured himself, and he decided to change his lodgings for the short time which he still had to stay, "even at a pecuniary sacrifice." Fortunately, one of his colleagues was just looking for a room. Diedericfc

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lost nothing and moved at once far out onto the North Side. Shortly afterwards he passed his examination. The Neo-Teu- tons celebrated the occasion with a Fruhschoppen which lasted until the evening. When he reached home, he was told that a gentleman was waiting in his room. "It must be Wiebel," thought Diederich, "coming to congratulate me." Then with swelling hope, "Perhaps it is Assessor von Barnim?" He opened the door and jumped back, for there stood Herr Goppel.

The latter was at a loss for words at first. "Well, well, why in evening dress?" he said, then with hesitation: "were you by any chance at our house?"

"No," replied Diederich, starting again in fear. "I have only been passing my doctor examination."

"My congratulations," said Goppel. Then Diederich man- aged to say: "How did you find out my address?" And the other replied, "certainly not from your former landlady, but there are other sources of information." Then they looked at one another. Goppel's voice had not been raised, but Diederich felt terrible threats in it. He had always refused to think about this catastrophe, and now it had happened. He would have to brace himself up.

"As a matter of fact," began Goppel, "I have come because Agnes is not at all well."

"Oh, really," said Diederich with an effort of frantic hypoc- risy. "What's wrong with her?" Mr. Goppel wagged his head sorrowfully. "Her heart is bad, but, of course, it is only her nerves ... of course," he repeated, after he had waited in vain, for Diederich to say something. "Now worry has driven her to melancholia and I would like to cheer her up. She is not allowed to go out. But won't you come and see us, to- morrow will be Sunday?"

"Saved!" thought Diederich. "He knows nothing." He was so pleased that he became quite diplomatic and scratched his head. "I had fully determined to do so, but now I am

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urgently required at home, our old manager is ill. I cannot even pay farewell calls on my professors, for I am leaving first thing in the morning."

Goppel laid his hand upon his knee. "You should think it over, Herr Hessling. Often one has duties to one's friends." He spoke slowly and his glance was so searching that Diede- rich's eyes could not meet it. "I only wish I could come," he stammered. Goppel replied: "You can. In fact, you can do everything that the present situation requires."

"What do you mean?" Diederich shivered inwardly. "You know very well, what I mean," said the father, and, pushing back his chair a little: "I hope you do not think that Agnes has sent me here. On the contrary, I had to promise her I would do nothing and leave her in peace. But then I began to think that it would be really too silly for us two to go on playing hide and seek with one another, seeing that we are friends, and that I knew your late lamented father, and that we have business connections and so forth."

Diederich thought: "These business connections are a thing of the past, my dear man." He steeled himself.

"I am not playing hide and seek with you, Herr Goppel."

"Oh, well, then everything is all right. I can easily under- stand, no young man, especially nowadays, wants to take the plunge into matrimony without going through a period of hesi- tation. But then the matter is not always so simple as in this case, is it? Our lines of business fit into one another, and if you wanted to extend your father's business Agnes 's dowry would be very useful." In the next breath, he added while his glance faltered: "At this moment, it is true I can only put my hands on twelve thousand marks in cash, but you can have as much cellulose as you want."

"So, you see," thought Diederich, "and even the twelve thousand would have to be borrowed — that is, if you could raise a loan." . . . "You misunderstand me, Herr Goppel," he explained. "I am not thinking of marriage, that would require

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too much money." Herr Goppel laughed, but his eyes were full of anxiety as he said: "I can do more than that. . . ."

"It doesn't matter," said Diederich in a tone of dignified refusal.

Goppel became more and more bewildered.

"Well, then, what do you really want?"

"I? Nothing. I thought you wanted something, since you have called on me."

Goppel pulled himself together. "That won't do, my dear Hessling, after what has happened, especially as it has gone on for so long."

Diederich looked at the father up and down, and the corner of his mouth curled. "So, you knew about it, did you?"

"I was not certain," murmured Goppel. With great con- descension Diederich retorted: "That would have been rather remarkable."

"I had every confidence in my daughter."

"That's where you were mistaken," said Diederich, deter- mined to use every weapon in self-defence. GoppeFs forehead flushed. "I also had confidence in you."

"In other words, you thought I was naive." Diederich stuck his hands in his trousers' pocket and leant back.

"No!" Goppel jumped up. "But I did not take you for the dirty cad that you are!"

Diederich stood up with an air of formal restraint. "Do you challenge me to a duel?" he asked. Goppel shouted, "No doubt that is what you'd like! To seduce the daughter and shoot the father. Then your honour would be satisfied."

"You understand nothing about honour." Diederich, in his turn became excited, "I did not seduce your daughter. I did what she wanted, and then I could not get rid of her. In this she takes after you." With great indignation: "How do I know that you were not in league with her from the begin- ning? This is a trap!"

GoppeFs face looked as if he were going to shout still louder.

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He gave a sudden start, and in his ordinary tone, but with a voice that shook, he said: "We are becoming too heated, the subject is too important for that. I promised Agnes that I would remain quiet."

Diederich laughed derisively. "You see what a swindler you are, you said before that Agnes did not know you were here."

The father smiled apologetically. "In the end people can always agree in a good cause, isn't that so, my dear Hessling?"

But Diederich felt that it was dangerous to become amiable again.

"What the hell do you mean by your 'dear Hessling'!" he yelled. "To you I am Doctor Hessling!"

"Of course," retorted Goppel stiff with rage. "I suppose this is the first time that you have been able to get yourself called Doctor. You may be proud of so auspicious an occa- sion." "Do you wish to make any insinuations against my honour as a gentleman?" Goppel made a gesture of dissent.

"I make no insinuations. I am simply wondering what we have done to you, my daughter and I. Must you really have so much money with your wife?"

Diederich felt that he was blushing, and he proceeded with all the more assurance.

"Since you insist upon my telling you: my moral sense for- bids me to marry a girl who does not bring her maidenly purity as her marriage portion."

Goppel was obviously on the point of breaking out again, but his strength failed him, he could only just stifle a sob.

"If you had seen her misery this afternoon. She confessed to me because she could not stand it any longer. I believe she does not even love me any more, only you. I suppose it is natural, you are the first."

"How do I know that? Before me a gentleman named Mahlmann frequented your house." Goppel shrank as if he had received a blow on the chest.

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"Yes, how can you tell? A person who tells lies cannot be believed."

He continued: "Nobody can expect me to make such a woman the mother of my children. My sense of duty to so- ciety is too strong." With this, he turned round and, stooping over the trunk that stood open, he began to fill it with his things.

Behind him he could hear the father who was now really sob- bing— and Diederich could not help feeling moved himself by the manly noble sentiments which he had expressed, by the unhappiness of Agnes and her father which his duty forbade him to alleviate, by the painful memory of his love and this tragic fate. . . . His heart almost stopped beating as he lis- tened to Herr Goppel opening and closing the door, creeping along the passage, and as he heard the noise of the street door closing behind him. Now it was all over — then Diederich fell on his knees and wept passionately into his half-packed trunk. That evening he played Schubert.

That was a sufficient concession to sentiment. He must be strong. Diederich speculated as to whether Wiebel had ever become so sentimental. Even a common fellow like Mahl- mann, without manners, had given Diederich a lesson in ruth- less energy. It seemed to him almost unlikely that any of the others had still perhaps some soft spots left in them. He alone was so afflicted by the influence of his mother. A girl like Agnes, who was just as foolish as his mother, would have rendered him unfit for these difficult times. These difficult times, the phrase always reminded Diederich of Unter den Linden with its mob of unemployed, women and children, of want and fear and disorder — and all that quelled, tamed into cheering, by the power, the all-embracing superhuman power, massive and flashing, which seemed to place its hoofs upon those heads.

"It can't be helped," he said to himself in an ecstasy of

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submission. "One must act like that." So much the worse for those who could not, they fell under the hoofs. Had the Goppels, father and daughter, any claims upon him? Agnes was of age and he had not given her a child. What then? "I should be a fool if I did anything to my own disadvantage which I cannot be compelled to do. I can get nothing for nothing." Diederich was proud and glad of his excellent train- ing. The students' corps, his military service and the atmos- phere of imperialism, had educated him and made him fit. He resolved to give effect to his well-earned principles at home in Netzig, and to become a pioneer of the spirit of the times. In order to show an outward and visible sign of this resolution on his person he betook himself the following morning to the court hairdresser, Haby, in Mittelstrasse, and had a change made which he had more and more frequently noticed of late in officers and gentlemen of rank. Hitherto it had seemed to him too distinguished to be imitated. By means of a special apparatus he had the ends of his moustache turned up at right angles. When this was done he could hardly recognise- himself in the glass. When no longer concealed by hair, his mouth had something tigerish and threatening about it, espe- cially when his lips were drawn, and the points of his mous- tache aimed straight at his eyes, which inspired fear in Diede- rich himself, as though they flashed from the countenance of the All-Powerful.

Ill

IN order to avoid further trouble from the Goppel family he departed at once. The heat made the railway carriage intol- erable. Diederich, who was alone, gradually removed his coat, waistcoat and shoes. A few stations before Netzig, people got in, two foreign-looking ladies, who seemed to be offended by the sight of Diederich's flannel shirt. In a language which he could not understand they began to complain to him, but he shrugged his shoulders and put his stockinged feet up on the seat. The ladies held their noses and shouted for help. The ticket-collector came and the guard himself, but Diederich showed them his second-class ticket and maintained his rights. He even gave these functionaries to understand that they had better be careful, as they could never tell with whom they had to do. When he had gained his victory and the ladies had withdrawn, another came in their place. Diederich gave her a challenging stare, but she calmly took a sausage out of her bag and began to eat it out of her hand, smiling at him at the same time. This disarmed him, and beaming broadly he re- turned her overtures and spoke to her. It turned out that she was from Netzig. He told her his name and she rejoiced at the fact that they were old acquaintances. "Was that so?" Diederich looked at her searchingly: her fat, rosy face, with fleshy lips and small impudently retrousse nose, her bleached hair, neat, smooth and carefully done, her pleimp youthful neck, and her mittened hands, whose fingers holding the sausage were themselves like pink little sausages. "No," he decided, "I do not recognise you, but you are a jolly nice girl, as de- licious as a sucking pig." He put his arm around her waist and immediately received a box on the ear. "Good for you," he said, rubbing his cheek. "Have you many more like that?"

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—"Enough for every impertinent puppy." She laughed in her throat and her small eyes twinkled naughtily. "You can have a piece of sausage, but nothing else." Involuntarily he com- pared her ability to defend herself with the helplessness of Agnes, and he said to himself: "It would be no harm to marry a girl like that." In the end she herself told her Christian name, and as he still could not guess who she was, she asked after his sisters. Suddenly he cried: "Guste Daimchen!" They both shook with laughter. "You always used to give me buttons from the rags in your paper factory. I shall always be grateful to you for that, Dr. Hessling! Do you know what I used to do with those buttons? I collected them, and when- ever my mother gave me money for buttons I used to buy sweets for myself."

"You are a practical person, too!" Diederich was delighted. "Then you used to climb over the garden wall to us, you little rogue! Most of the time you did not wear knickers, and when your dress slipped up there was a view from behind."

She shrieked; no decent man would remember such things. "Now, it must be much more interesting," added Diederich. She at once became more serious.

"Now, I am engaged to be married."

It was to Wolfgang Buck that she was engaged. Diederich was silent and his face expressed his disappointment. Then he declared reluctantly that he knew Buck. She said cau- tiously: "I suppose you mean that he is rather eccentric? But the Bucks are a very distinguished family. Of course, in other families there is more money," she concluded. Feeling that this shot was directed at him, Diederich looked at her. She twinkled. He wanted to ask her something, but he had "lost courage.

Just before they reached Netzig Fraulein Daimchen asked: "and what about your heart, Dr. Hessling, is it still free?"

"So far I have avoided an engagement." He nodded his liead seriously. "Oh, you must tell me all about it," she cried,

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but their train was now entering the station. "I hope we'll meet soon again," said Diederich. "I can only say that a young man often comes damned near burning his fingers. A yes or a no can spoil his whole life."

His two sisters were waiting in the station. When they caught sight of Guste Daimchen, they first made a wry face but then rushed up and helped to carry her luggage. As soon as they were alone with Diederich they explained their zeal. Guste had come in for some money and was a millionairess. So that was it! He was filled with timid respect.

The sisters related the story in detail. An elderly relative in Magdeburg had left all the money to Guste as a reward for the way she had looked after him. "And she earned it," re- marked Emma, "towards the end, he was simply disgusting, they say." Magda added: "and, of course, you can draw your own conclusions, for Guste was a whole year in the house with him alone."

Diederich at once became indignant. "A young girl should not say such things," he cried righteously, but Magda assured him that Inge Tietz, Meta Harnisch and every one said it. "Then I command you most emphatically to contradict such talk." There was a moment's silence, then Emma said: "Guste, you know, is already engaged." — "I know that," muttered Diederich.

They met a number of acquaintances. Diederich heard them addressing him as "Doctor," beamed proudly, and walked on between Emma and Magda, who cast admiring glances from each side at his new style of wearing his moustache. When they reached the house, Frau Hessling received her son with open arms and shrieks like those of a drowning person calling for help. Diederich also wept, much to his own surprise. All at once he realised that the solemn hour of fate had come, in which he entered the room for the first time as the real head of the family, completely fitted out with the title of Doctor, and determined to guide the factory and the family accord-

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ing to his own well considered views. He took the hands of his mother and sisters all together, and said in earnest tones: "I shall never forget that I am responsible before God for you."

Frau Hessling, however, was uneasy. "Are you ready, my boy?" she asked. "Our people are waiting for you." Diede- rich finished his beer and went downstairs at the head of his family. The yard had been swept clean and the entrance to the factory was framed with wreaths of flowers which sur- rounded the inscription "Welcome!" In front stood the old bookkeeper Sotbier who said: "Well, good day, Dr. Hessling. I ain't had a chance to come up, there were still some things to do."

"On a day like this you might have left it," replied Diede- rich walking past him. Inside, in the rag room he found the work people. They all stood clustered together; the twelve workmen who looked after the paper machine, the cylinder machine and the cutter, the three bookkeepers together with the women whose job it was to sort the rags. The men coughed, there was an awkward pause until several of the women pushed forward a little girl who held a bouquet of flowers in front of her and in a piping voice wished the Doctor welcome and good luck. With a gracious air Diederich ac- cepted the flowers. Now it was his turn to clear his throat. First he turned towards his own family, then he looked sharply into the faces of his workers, one after another, even the black- bearded machinist, although this man's look made him feel uncomfortable. Then he began:

"Men and women! As you are my dependents, I will simply say to you that in the future you must put your shoulders to the wheel. I am determined to put some life into this business. Lately, as there was no master here, many of you probably thought you could take things easily. You never were more mistaken. I say this particularly for the older people who belong to my lamented father's time."

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He raised his voice and spoke still more sharply and com- mandingly, looking all the while at old Sotbier :

"Now I have taken the rudder into my own hands. My course is set straight and I am guiding you to glorious times. Those who wish to help me, are heartily welcome, but who- ever opposes me in this work I will smash."

He tried to make his eyes flash and the ends of his mous- tache rose still higher.

"There is only one master here, and I am he. I am respon- sible only to God and my own conscience. You can always count on my fatherly benevolence, but revolutionary desires will be shattered against my unbending will. Should I dis- cover any connection between one of you" — he caught the eye of the black-bearded machinist, who looked suspicious — "and the Social Democratic clubs, our relationship will be sev- ered. I regard every Social Democrat as an enemy of my busi- ness and his country. ... So now return to your work and consider well what I have told you.

He turned round sharply and marched off, breathing Heavily. His strong words produced in him a kind of dizziness which made him incapable of recognising any face. Disturbed and respectful, his family followed him, while the workers stared at one another in dumb amazement, before they attacked the bottles of beer which stood ready for the feast.

Upstairs Diederich was explaining his plans to his mother and sisters. The factory would have to be enlarged by taking in the house of their neighbour at the back. They would have to go into competition with their rivals. A place in the sun! Old Kliising over there in the Gausenfeld paper factory prob- ably imagined that he would go on forever getting all the business. . . . Finally Magda raised the question as to where he expected to get the money, but Frau Hessling interrupted her. "Your brother knows all about that better than we do." Cautiously she added: "Many a girl would be happy if she could win his heart." — Fearing his anger she pressed her hand

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to her mouth. But Diederich merely blushed. Then she had enough courage to kiss him. "It would be such a terrible blow to me," she sobbed, "if my son, my dear son, went away from home. It is doubly hard for a widow. Frau Daimchen feels it too, now that her Guste is going to marry Wolfgang Buck."

"Perhaps not," said Emma, the elder girl. "They say that Wolfgang has an affair with an actress." Frau Hessling com- pletely forgot to chide her daughter. "But where so much money is at stake! A million, people say."

Diederich said contemptuously that he knew Buck, that he was not normal. "It must run in the family. The old man also married an actress."

"The results are easily seen," said Emma. "You hear all sorts of things about the daughter, Frau Lauer."

"Children!" begged Frau Hessling nervously. But Diede- rich quieted her.

"That's all right, mother, it is high time to bell the cat. I take the view that the Bucks have long since become unworthy of their position in this town. They are a decadent family."

"The wife of Maurice, the eldest son," said Magda, "is noth- ing but a peasant. They were lately in town, and he, too, looked quite countrified." Emma was full of indignation.

"And what about the brother of old Herr Buck? Always so elegant, and his five unmarried daughters? They have soup brought from the public kitchen, I know that for a fact."

"Yes, Herr Buck founded the public kitchen," explained Diederich. "Also the Discharged Prisoners' Aid, and goodness knows what besides. I'd like to know when he has time to look after his own business."

"I should not be surprised," said Frau Hessling, "if he hadn't very much more business left. Though, of course, I have the greatest respect for Herr Buck. He is so well thought of."

Diederich laughed bitterly. "Why, then? We have all been

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brought up to honour old Buck. The great man of Netzig! Sentenced to death in Forty Eight!"

"But that was an historic service, your father always used to say."

"Service," shouted Diederich. "When I know that any one is against the government that is quite enough for me. Why should high treason be a service?"

Before the astonished women he launched into politics. These old Democrats who still led the regiment, they were a positive disgrace to Netzig! Unpatriotic slackers, at odds with the government! They were a mockery of the spirit of the time. Because old Judge Kiihlemann was their representative in the Reichstag, and was a friend of the notorious Eugene Richter, business here was at a standstill and nobody got any money. Of course, there would be no railway connections or soldiers for such a radical hole. No traffic and no influx of population! The legal appointments were always in the hands of the same couple of families, that was well-known, and they passed round the jobs among themselves and there was noth- ing for any one else. The Gausenfeld paper factory furnished all the supplies for the town, for Klusing, the owner, also be- longed to old Buck's gang.

Magda had something else to add. "Recently the amateurs* show at the Civic Club had been put off because Herr Buck's daughter, Frau Lauer, was ill. That is simply absolutism." "Nepotism, you mean," said Diederich sharply. He rolled his eyes. "And into the bargain, Herr Lauer is a socialist. But Herr Buck had better look out! We shall keep a sharp eye on him."

Frau Hessling raised her hands entreatingly. "My dear son, when you go now to pay your calls in the town, promise me you will also go to Herr Buck's. After all he is so influential." But Diederich promised nothing. "Other people want their turn," he cried.

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Nevertheless he did not sleep well that night. By seven o'clock he was down in the factory and at once raised a row because the beer bottles of the day before were still lying about. "No boozing here, this is not a barroom. Surely that is in the regulations, Herr Sotbier?" — "Regulations?" said the old bookkeeper. "We have none." Diederich was speechless. He shut himself up with Sotbier in the office. "No regula- tions? Then, of course, nothing more can surprise me. What are those ridiculous orders on which you are working?" and he scattered the letters about on the desk. "It seems to be high time that I took charge. The business is going to the dogs in your hands."

"To the dogs, Master Diederich?"

"Doctor Hessling to you!"

He insisted that they should underbid all the other factories.

"We cannot do that for long," said Sotbier. "In fact we are not in position at all to execute such large orders as Gausenfeld."

"And you set up to be a business man? We'll simply install more machinery."

"That costs money," replied Sotbier.

"Then we'll get some! I'll bring some style into this busi- ness. Wait till you see. If you don't want to back me up, I'll do it alone."

Sotbier shook his head. "Your father and I always agreed, Master Diederich. Together we worked up this business."

"Times are changed, and don't you forget it. I am my own manager."

"Impetuous youth," sighed Sotbier as Diederich slammed the door. He walked through the room in which the mechan- ical drum, beating loudly, was washing the rags in chlorine and went into the smaller room where the large boiling ma- chine was. In the doorway he unexpectedly met the black- bearded machinist. Diederich started and almost made way for him, but he brushed past him with his shoulder before

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the man could step aside. Snorting with impatience, he watched the machine at work, the cylinders turning and the knife cutting, which separated the material into threads. Weren't the people who attended the machine grinning at him slyly, because he had been frightened by that dark fellow? "He is an impudent dog! He must be fired!" A bestial hate arose in Diederich, the hatred of his fair flesh for the thin dark man of another race, which he would have liked to regard as inferior and which looked sinister. Diederich made a sudden movement.

"The cylinder is not in the right position, the knives are working badly!" As the hands merely stared at him, he yelled: "where is the machinist?" When the man with the black beard came along, Diederich said: "look how this has been bungled. The cylinder is much too close to the knives and they are cutting everything to pieces. I will hold you re- sponsible for the damage."

The man bent over the machine. "No harm done," he said quietly, and again Diederich wondered if a smile was not hid- den by that black beard. The machinist gave him a surly mocking look, which Diederich could not stand. He stopped blustering and simply made a gesture with his arms. "I hold you responsible."

"What's wrong now?" asked Sotbier, who had heard the noise. Then he explained that the rags were not being cut too fine, that they were always done in this way. The men nodded their heads in approval and the machinist stood there indif- ferently. Diederich did not feel equal to a discussion about his competence in such matters, so he shouted: "In the future, you will kindly see that it is done differently!" and he turned away.

He reached the rag room, and he recovered his composure as he watched with an expert eye the women who were sort- ing the rags on the sieve plates of the long tables. One little dark-eyed woman was bold enough to smile at him from be-

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neath her coloured kerchief, but her glance met such a stony stare that she shrank back and bent upon her work. Brightly- coloured rags streamed out of the sacks, the whispering of the women was stilled under the master's eye, and in the warm stuffy atmosphere nothing else could be heard but the gentle rattling of the blades as they came down upon the tables and cut off the buttons. But Diederich, who was examining the hot water pipes, heard something suspicious. He looked over a heap of sacks — and started back, with blushing cheeks and quivering moustache. "Stop that now," he shouted, "come out here!" A young workman crept out. "The female, too!" shouted Diederich. "Look lively!" Finally, when the girl ap- peared, he struck an attitude. Nice goings on, indeed! Not only was the place a bar room but it was something else! He swore so loudly that all the workers gathered about him. "Well, Herr Sotbier, I suppose this also has always been done in this way. I congratulate you on such success. These people are accustomed to waste my time amusing themselves behind the sacks. How did this man get in here?" The young man said she was engaged to be married to him. "Married? Here, we know nothing about marriage, only about work. You are both stealing my time, for which I pay you. You are swine and thieves. I shall give you both the sack and lodge a com- plaint against you for indecent conduct." He gave a challeng- ing glance all around.

"In this place I insist upon German virtue and decency. Do you understand?" Then he caught the eye of the machinist. "And I will see that they are observed, whether you like it or not."

"I haven't made any objections," said the man quietly, but Diederich could not contain himself any longer. At last, he had got something against him.

"Your conduct has been all along most suspicious. If you had been doing your duty, I should not have caught these two people."

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"It is not my business to look after people," the man in- terrupted.

"You are very insubordinate and you have encouraged those beneath you in insubordination. You are preparing for the revolution. What's your name, anyhow?"

"Napoleon Fischer/' said the man. Diederich stammered. "Nap— Well, I'm damned! Are you a Social Democrat?"

"I am."

"I thought so. You're fired."

He turned round to the others. "Remember what you have seen — " And he bounced out of the room. In the yard Sot- bier ran after him. "Master Diederich!" He was greatly ex- cited, and he would not speak until the door of the private office had been closed behind him. "This won't do," said the bookkeeper, "he is a union man." — "For that very reason he is fired," replied Diederich. Sb'tbier explained that it would not do, because all the others would strike. Diederich could not understand this. Were they all in the Union? No. Well, then. But Sotbier explained that they were afraid of the Reds, even the older people could not be relied upon.

"I'll kick them all out!" cried Diederich, "bag and baggage, with all their belongings!"

"Then it would be a question if we could get others to take their places," said Sotbier with a pale smile, looking from un- der his green eye shade at his young master who was knock- ing the furniture about in his rage. "Am I master in my own factory or not? I will show them — "

Sotbier waited until his rage had evaporated, then he said: "You need not say anything to Fischer, he won't leave us, for he knows that it would lead to too much trouble."

Diederich flared up again: "Really! So it is not neces- sary for me to beg him to have the kindness to stay. Na- poleon the Great ! I need not invite him to dinner on Sunday, I suppose? It would be too great an honour for me!"

His face was red and swollen, the room seemed to stifle him,

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and he threw the door open. It so happened that the machin- ist was just passing. Diederich gazed after him and his hatred made his impressions sharper than usual. He noticed the man's thin, crooked legs, his bony shoulders, and his arms which hung forward. As the machinist spoke to the men, he could see his strong jaws working underneath his thin, black beard. How Diederich hated that mouth and those knotted hands! The black devil had long since passed and still Diederich was con- scious of his odour.

"Just look, Sotbier, how his arms reach down to the ground. He will soon run on all fours and eat nuts. Just you watch, we'll trip up that ape! Napoleon! The name in itself is a provocation. He had better look out for himself, for there's one thing certain, either he or I will go under."

With head erect, he left the factory. Putting on a morning- coat he made preparations to pay a call on the most important people of the town. From Meisestrasse, in order to reach the house of Dr. Scheffelweis, the Mayor, in Schweinichenstrasse, he had simply to go along Kaiser Wilhelmstrasse. He wished to do so, but at the decisive moment, as if by a secret agree- ment with himself, he turned aside into the Fleischhauergrube. The two steps in front of old Herr Buck's house were removed from the traffic of the passers-by, and always had been. The bell-handle on the yellow glass door caused a prolonged rattling noise in the empty interior. Then a door opened in the back- ground and the old servant crept along the floor. But long before she could reach the outer door, the master of the house himself stepped out of his office and opened it. He seized Diederich, who bowed deeply, by the hand and dragged him in.

"My dear Hessling, I have been expecting you. I heard that you'd arrived. Welcome back to Netzig, my dear Doc- tor." Tears sprang into Diederich's eyes and he stammered.

"You are too kind, Herr Buck. I need hardly say, Herr Buck, that you are the first person on whom I wanted to call, and to assure that I am always — I am always — at your serv-

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ice/' he concluded, smiling like a diligent schoolboy. Old Herr Buck still held him fast with his hand which was warm yet light and soft in its pressure.

"My service" — he shoved forward a chair for Diederich — "you mean, of course, the service of your fellow citizens, who will be grateful to you. I think I can promise you that they will shortly elect you to the Town Council, for that would be a mark of respect to a family which deserves it, and then" — old Buck made a gesture of dignified generosity — "I rely upon you to give us an early opportunity of seeing you raised to the bench."

Diederich bowed, smiling happily, as if he already had been raised to the honour. "I do not say," continued Herr Buck, "that public opinion in our town is sound in every respect" — his white beard sank onto his necktie — "but there is still room" — his beard rose again — "and God grant it may long be so, there is still room for genuine Liberals."

"I need hardly tell you I am thoroughly liberal," Diederich assured him.

Old Buck ran his hand over the papers on his desk. "Your lamented father often used to sit opposite to me here, and particularly at the time when he was building the paper mill. To my great joy I could be of use to him in that matter. It was a question of the stream which now flows through your yard."

Diederich said in a grave voice: "How often, Herr Buck, my father has told me that he owed to you the stream with- out which we could not exist."

"You must not say that he owed it only to me, but rather to the happy circumstances of our civic life." Looking ear- nestly at Diederich, the old gentleman raised his white fore- finger: "But certain people and a certain party would like to make many changes as soon as they could." With deep feel- ing: "The enemy is at the gate; we must stand together."

A moment passed in silence, then in lighter tones and with

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a slight smile, he said: "are you not, my dear Dr. Hessling, in the same position as your father then was? Don't you want to extend your business? Have you any plans?"

"Certainly, I have." With great eagerness Diederich set forth what he would like to see happen. The other listened carefully, nodded, and took a pinch of snuff. . . . Finally, he said: "This much I can see; the alterations will not only cause you great expense, but under certain conditions, may give rise to difficulties under the city building laws, with which I, by the way, am concerned as a magistrate. Take a look, my jdear Hessling, at what I have here on my desk."

Diederich recognised an exact plan of his property with that which lay behind it. His astonished face produced a smile of satisfaction in old Buck. "I have no doubt that I can see that no oppressive conditions are raised." And in reply to Diede- rich's profuse thanks: "We do a service to the whole commun- nity when we help on each one of our friends, for all except tyrants are friends of the people's party."

After these words he leant back deeper in his chair and folded his hands. His expression had relaxed and he nodded his head in a grandfatherly fashion. "As a child you had such lovely fair curls," said he. Diederich understood that the official part of the conversation was over. He took the liberty of saying, "I still remember how I used to come to this house as a small boy, when I used to play soldiers with your son Wolfgang."

"Ah, yes, and now he is playing soldiers again."

"Oh, he is very popular with the officers. He told me so himself."

"I wish, my dear Hessling, that he had more of your prac- tical disposition . . . but he will settle down once I have got him married."

"I believe your son has a streak of genius in him. For that reason he is never contented with anything, and does not know whether he would like to become a general or a great man in some other field."

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"Meanwhile, unfortunately, he gets into silly scrapes." The old gentleman gazed out of the window. Diederich did not dare to show his curiosity.

"Silly scrapes? I can hardly believe it. He always im- pressed me by his intelligence, even at college; his composi- tions. And his recent statement to me about the Emperor, that he would really like to be the first labour leader. . . ."

"God save the workers from that."

"What do you mean?" Diederich was absolutely astounded.

"Because it would do them no good. It has not done the rest of us any good either."

"Yet, it is thanks to the Hohenzollerns that we have a united German Empire."

"We are not united," said old Buck, rising from his chair with unaccustomed haste. "In order to prove our unity we ought to be able to follow our own impulse, but can we? You call yourselves united because the curse of servility is spread- ing everywhere. That is what Herwegh, a survivor like my- self, cried to those who were drunk with victory in the spring of 1870. What would he say now!" Diederich's reply to this voice from another world was to stammer: "Ah, yes, you belong to Forty-Eight."

"My dear young friend, you mean that I have lost and that I am a fool. Yes, we were beaten, because we were foolish enough to believe in the people. We believed that they would achieve for themselves what they now receive from their mas- ters at the cost of liberty. We thought of this nation as power- ful, wealthy, full of understanding for its own affairs and con- secrated to the future. We did not see that, without political education, of which it has less than any other, it was fated to fall the victim of the powers of the past, after the first flush of freedom. Even in our time there were far too many people who pursued their own personal interests, unconcerned about the common weal, and who were contented when they could fulfil the ignoble needs of a selfish life of pleasure by basking

io6 THE PATRIOTEER

in the sun of some one's approval. Since that time their name is legion, for they have been relieved of all care for the public welfare. Your masters have already made you into a world- power, and, while you're earning money whatever way you can, and spending whatever way you like, they will build the fleet for you — or rather for themselves — which we ourselves at that time would have built. Our poet then knew what you are now only learning: the future of Germany will spring from the furrows which Columbus ploughed."

"So Bismarck has really accomplished something," said Diederich in mild triumph.

"That is just the point, that he has been allowed to do it! At the same time he has done it all in such a matter-of-fact manner, but nominally in the name of his master. We citizens of Forty-Eight were more honest, it seems to me, for then I myself paid the price of my own daring."

"Oh, yes, I know, you were condemned to death," said Diederich, once more impressed.

"I was condemned because I defended the supremacy of the National Parliament against individual authority, and I led the people to revolt in their hour of need. Thus the unity of Germany was in our hearts. It was a matter of conscience, the personal obligation of every individual, by which he was prepared to stand. No! we had no thought of sacrificing Ger- man unity. When, defeated and betrayed, I was waiting in this house with my last remaining friends for the King's sol- diers, I was still a man, nevertheless, who himself had created an ideal, one of many, but a man. Where are they now?"

The old gentleman stopped and his face assumed an ex- pression as if he were listening. Diederich felt uncomfortably warm, and that he ought not to remain silent any longer. He said: "God be praised, the German people is no longer the nation of poets and thinkers; it has modern and practical ends in view." The other was drawn from his thoughts and pointed to the ceiling.