Only a Girl Part 28

The old man held out his hand to her, but she did not take it. "Never mind that; such a civility shown to me might deprive you of the children's respect."

"Oh, my dear Fraulein Hartwich," Leonhardt warmly entreated, "do not ascribe this folly to me, to whom it gives, of course, much more pain than it can to you, whose position is too exalted to allow you to heed such trifles; but to me it brings the bitter conviction that the labor of a lifetime has been in vain!" He ceased, and cast a sad, weary glance at the little flock crowded so closely together.

At his words the cold look in Ernestine's eyes vanished, and, for the first time, she regarded attentively the old man, who stood so respectfully, and yet so dignified, before her. His inflamed eyes revealed to her instantly the nature of the tragedy alluded to by her unknown friend, and she was filled with sympathy.

"We will talk together by-and-by, Herr Leonhardt," she whispered, so that the children should not hear what she said. "Now let me go."

"Will you have the great kindness, Fraulein Hartwich, to go and see my wife for awhile?" said Leonhardt "It would give her such pleasure,--she is in the opposite room."

"Most certainly I will. I will wait for you there."

She turned to go; but Leonhardt, seeing that the children were now more quiet, and hoping to show her that their folly was not as great as it had seemed, cried to the foremost ones of the throng, "You have behaved foolishly and naughtily before Fraulein Hartwich. Come, show her that you can be better, and bid her good-by, like good children."

The children stood motionless. The old man, distressed at their conduct, looked around the room, and said, "Will none of you shake hands with her for my sake?"

"I will," said Kathchen's clear, childish voice; and the fearless little girl, who had only followed the example of the others, walked up to Fraulein von Hartwich, and offered her chubby little hand to be shaken, and her berry-stained lips to be kissed. Ernestine stooped and kissed the little, pouting lips, and looked kindly into the pretty child's frank, sparkling eyes.

"Now see, all you larger children," said the schoolmaster, "a little child, only six years old, shames you all! What are you afraid of? You see Fraulein von Hartwich every day!"

"Yes, but not in a room--out in the road; we can run away then," one of the older ones shrewdly declared.

Ernestine smiled sadly, and left the school-room without another word.

The schoolmaster looked around upon his pupils with an indignant glance. "You have to-day disgraced yourselves and me, and I see plainly that everything that I have said to you and to your parents upon this point has been of no avail. I will give up trying to contend with your superst.i.tion and hate,--I am too old and weak for such a contest. Only let me say to you once more, 'Judge not, that you be not judged.' And tell your parents that if the time ever comes when I shall have to leave you, what has occurred to-day will go far to prevent me from regretting my departure."

The children sat dismayed and silent, for they had never known their teacher to be so much displeased. They bowed their heads low over their books and slates, and hardly ventured to breathe, still less to utter a word of excuse. The lessons were gone through with even more quiet than usual, and when two o'clock struck, the children left the house and crept away as sad and depressed as if they were following a funeral.

But scarcely were they escaped from the neighbourhood of the school-house than they recovered themselves, and fell upon poor Kathchen. "Fie! Kathchen, you let the Hartwich kiss you! n.o.body cares for you now!"

"Yes, yes, Kathchen's mouth is black, because the Hartwich kissed it."

"Oho, Kathchen, no one will ever give you a kiss again!"

"Only wait, and see how the Hartwich has bewitched you! To-morrow you will know!"

Poor little Kathchen was overwhelmed with speeches and reproaches of this kind. But they troubled her very little, for her teacher was pleased with her, and that was better than all else besides; and she was proud that she had dared to go forward when all the rest were afraid.

"If you are so unkind, I will not give you any of my berries," she said, swinging her huge satchel carelessly to and fro. This trump-card did not fail of its effect, for the berries were not bewitched,--at all events, the Hartwich had not touched them; so the little girl soon had the satisfaction of seeing the children all gather around her once more.

When Leonhardt went to his wife, he found her deep in friendly talk with Ernestine.

"My dear, kind Fraulein Hartwich," he began, "how it grieves me that you, who came to do me a kindness, should have been so insulted in my house! To be sure, they are only children, and they could not really insult you, but----"

"'As the parents are, so must the children be,' is what you would say,"

Ernestine interposed, "or what, at least, you think. Do not be distressed, Herr Leonhardt. I am used to insult and ridicule, and I have grown callous to them. But it is strange that a similar occurrence took place ten years ago to-day, at the first and only children's party which I ever attended. My misanthropy dates from that day; and the fresh proof that I have just had convinces me that I am not fitted to mix with the world,--least of all, with what pa.s.ses for such in this country. Tell me, Herr Leonhardt, is it entirely impossible for you to enlighten these people in some small degree?"

"To speak frankly, I believe I could have done so had not my influence always been counteracted by their priests and pastors. As a teacher, subordinate always to a priest or pastor, I could effect nothing against the superst.i.tion, the religious intolerance, instilled into the peasants by their spiritual guides; for with peasants the authority is always the greatest that does not attempt to combat their errors. A quack who makes use only of old women's remedies will always inspire them with more confidence than a regular physician whose prescriptions gainsay all their medical and dietetic prejudices. A pastor who from a religious point of view justifies and encourages their superst.i.tion and ignorance will be regarded by them as a far worthier and more trustworthy guide than one who teaches only the pure truth of G.o.d. So, you see, I have always contended with unequal weapons, and have frequently been in danger of falling a victim to their malice and thus losing my place. In quiet times, when nothing occurred to show plainly the difference between us, all went pretty well; but since your arrival, Fraulein von Hartwich, the old quarrel has been renewed, and I see again how powerless I am."

"Then I am come only to sow discord in this peaceful spot," Ernestine said in a thoughtful tone. "Yes, yes,--misfortune attends me wherever I go."

"Oh, do not say that!" cried Frau Brigitta, seizing Ernestine's hand, "but it seems to me--forgive a simple old woman for speaking so plainly to you--it seems to me that a lady so beautiful and richly endowed as you are, ought not to live here so lonely and secluded. My husband and I often say, 'What a pity it is that such a splendid creature should bury herself alive!' It certainly is unnatural; and what is natural is sure to be best!"

Ernestine was silent, and sat with eyes cast down.

"I too must say," said Leonhardt timidly, "that you are not in your right place here. Did you ever see the statue of a renowned philosopher or artist set up in the midst of a village? Certainly not; for the village boys would pelt it with mud,--no one would understand its value,--it would be merely a doll, at which every one would laugh, and to deface which would be considered a very good joke. And will you, Fraulein Hartwich, in the bloom of life, with all your refinement of mind, voluntarily expose yourself to the same fate that would await such a statue were it erected here, for the purpose of inspiring this rude people with enn.o.bling ideas? Surely you cannot answer to yourself for such a course of life!"

Ernestine gazed attentively at the old man's faded but still n.o.ble countenance. His address was so different from what she had expected from a simple village schoolmaster, that she was greatly astonished at it. It stimulated her to reply to him.

"I understand your comparison, Herr Leonhardt, and am greatly honoured by it, but,--forgive me for saying so,--it does not seem to me quite correct. I know of no village where statues either of Christ or the Madonna are not erected, and the rudest peasant pays them reverence,--because he appreciates the idea that they embody. Could we only breathe a sympathy with other than religious ideas into the minds of this neglected cla.s.s, the representatives of such ideas would also receive the same reverence."

Frau Leonhardt was a little troubled by the turn the conversation had taken; for, as a faithful servant will listen to no slighting remarks concerning those whom he serves, she, as a true servant of her Lord and Saviour, disapproved of Fraulein von Hartwich's mode of speaking of Him, and thought it scarcely becoming in a good Christian to listen to such talk. But her husband, with modest tact, put an end to her anxiety. "I have myself," said he, "thought of what you say, but it seems to me to be an entirely different matter. The people honour in these statues not ideas, but persons,--and the holiest and highest persons that they can conceive of,--the persons of their G.o.d and his saints. As we take delight in the pictures of distant relatives, whom we may never have seen, perhaps, but whom we honour and cherish for the sake of what we know of them, so, a thousand times more so, do the people honour what speaks to them of the eternally invisible Father of all! This sentiment, Fraulein von Hartwich, seems to me widely different from the admiration that a comprehension of the great ideas of to-day might awaken in the minds of the people. We are not yet far enough advanced to say how it may be,--and who knows whether we ever shall advance so far as to be able to elevate those cla.s.ses who labour for us that we may think for them, and who desire nothing at present for their happiness but their plough and their G.o.d? What they really need now, in my opinion, is that their G.o.d should not be represented to them as an angry, avenging Jehovah, but as the loving, redeeming G.o.d of Christianity! To return to my simile,--with regard to yourself, Fraulein von Hartwich, let me repeat that you can only be in your true place where your efforts and ideas are understood and you can grace a pedestal that becomes you. Then you will be truly happy, and far more easily brought into communion with your Creator than while you are embittered by the religious error and intolerance prevailing around you here. The people are hostile to you, because they believe you hostile to what they hold most sacred,--their religion. Whoever, in their eyes, stands aloof from Christian fellowship, stands aloof from mankind,--ceases to be a creature of flesh and blood. And if they do not see condign punishment quickly overtake such a one, whom they regard as the chief of sinners, they believe that she must be under the protection not of G.o.d, but of the other power in their theology,--the devil! Forgive my frankness. I say nothing of their childish misconception of G.o.d's tender long-suffering. I only feel it my duty to show you the impa.s.sable gulf that lies between you and your surroundings. You are such a thorn in the side not only of the Catholic priest, but also of the evangelical pastor of our diocese, that he attempted to procure from the Protestant consistory a decree of banishment against you on account of your writings, and, failing in this, he has determined to drive you from this place, at all costs, by unceasing persecution. His Catholic a.s.sociate seconds him, as you yourself know, most zealously, and I wish to save you, by timely warning, from all that, unfortunately, still threatens you here."

He paused, and endeavoured to observe with his dim eyes the effect of his words upon Ernestine's impa.s.sive features. Her look was still riveted on the ground, and she said nothing, so he respectfully took her hand, saying, "Dear Fraulein von Hartwich, forgive me if I am too bold and have wounded you. I am a plain man, ignorant of the forms of polite society, grown old among peasants, and accustomed to speak out my thoughts openly. I hold truth to be my first duty, but it would pain me to think that, in fulfilling this duty, I had unintentionally wounded you!"

"Dear, dear!--yes!--oh, yes!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed his kindly old wife, really distressed by the inscrutable expression upon Ernestine's face.

Suddenly the latter started up, shook the old people by the hand, and said gravely but cordially,--

"Thank you, thank you, Herr Leonhardt. You are a good man!"

"Oh, my dear, good Fraulein von Hartwich!" cried Frau Brigitta with emotion.

"I must go home now," said Ernestine, covering her black braids with her hat, "but I will see you soon again. Farewell!"

When the old couple had accompanied her to the door, and followed her with their eyes as she walked away apparently lost in thought, they both remembered for the first time that she had not alluded in any way to Johannes.

"How strange!" said the schoolmaster, as he went for his garden-shears to trim the luxuriant hedge before his house.

CHAPTER IV.

THE GUARDIAN.

When, on the evening of the same day, Leuthold returned from town, he heard that Ernestine could not see him,--she was not well, and had retired to her room. Slowly and cautiously he sought her study, and there attempted to find what and how much his ward had accomplished during the day. To his astonishment, he found nothing. He slipped into the laboratory, and there lay everything just as it had been left the day before. Nothing had been touched. What did it mean? It was the first day for years that had been pa.s.sed by Ernestine in idleness.

Then, creeping along the corridors with the stealthy step of a cat, he sought Frau Willmers. She, too, was just about going to bed, and looked very sleepy when Leuthold, fixing a searching glance upon her, asked, "What has Fraulein von Hartwich been doing to-day?"

Frau Willmers yawned: she needed an instant for reflection. "Fraulein von Hartwich has been quite unwell to-day," she replied.

"Indeed! what was the matter with her?"

"Why, just what is always the matter, more or less. Heart-beat, faintness, headache. Is it any wonder, considering the way she is always at work? She could hardly hold up her head to-day----"

"Has any one been here?"

"Not a soul: who could----"

"No letters?"