Villa Eden Part 141

CHAPTER IX.

DEMONSTRATION OF RESPECT FROM BELOW.

When a person is to be surprised in the evening by a demonstration of respect, what does he do in the morning?

Sonnenkamp must pretend not to notice anything, but nevertheless, he watched the barometer very closely. It had been raining, and now the mercury was rising; it is clearing off, and the proposed demonstration will come off beautifully. If one only knew beforehand the address which would be made this evening, one could get ready a suitable response. Princes have the advantage of receiving beforehand any address that is to be presented. Sonnenkamp, however, was confident that the occasion would suggest to him a suitable reply. He had never regarded the honor that comes from men; he had honored himself, so far as there is any need of honor at all. Should he now feel any concern about it? And by what was this respect obtained?

By money!

Had he not a superfluity of that? it was very evident that their eyes would not be turned upon him.

He rode out at the usual hour, but he did not follow his usual route, and without being aware of it, he cast amiable glances upon all the people he met; he had a new accession of benevolent feeling. He rode to the castle, and looked smilingly around, involuntarily fancying to himself with what delight the knights formerly returned home from their raids; they were strong, fierce, courageous men.

Not far from the ruins he turned aside into the wood, for he saw that a large flag was floating over the battlements of the only completed tower, and there were no men visible. He wandered about in the wood, leading his horse by the bridle. He himself could not have told what there pa.s.sed through his mind. Here walks a man in the wood, silent, alone, lost in thought, and this evening hundreds and hundreds of men will honor him with cheers.

The Major lay in wait for him as he was returning, and insisted upon his going home with him. The Major had the air of a groomsman, who has made every preparation for the wedding, and now, confident that all the requisite arrangements have been made, retires with the bridegroom into the quiet apartment until he shall be summoned by the full band.

The dinner to-day was not so well served as usual, but Sonnenkamp took no notice of it, not wanting to show that he knew of the preparations for the evening celebration.

In the afternoon there were present the neighbouring families of the Cabinetsrath, the Justice and his wife, the Doctor, and the Major, who had absented himself for a brief period and now appeared with all his decorations. Many others came also; even the young widow, the daughter of Herr von Endlich, was there, in her widow's weeds, having come to spend a few weeks in the summer with her parents in the country.

Pranken had invited the best society in the vicinity, for he knew that this public recognition of his renown was very agreeable to Herr Sonnenkamp. All were present, however, as if by accident, and Sonnenkamp allowed this tacitly understood lie to pa.s.s.

Pranken was particularly attentive to the beautiful young widow, and made the most of his position as son of the house. He was glad, as he once caught Manna's glance, that she had an opportunity of perceiving what temptations and charms were offered to him; and the words which he made use of in introducing Manna to the young widow seemed to him very well chosen. He said,--

"You, gracious lady, and Fraulein Sonnenkamp are just fitted to be friends; for Fraulein Sonnenkamp has also a maturity of mind far beyond her years."

The young widow was very gracious to Manna, and Pranken left them by themselves, for he had a great deal to attend to as son of the house.

He had given orders to the cook to have in readiness an ample provision of roast meats and common wines, and he had looked out also for the cigars. Sonnenkamp knew everything that was going on, but pretended to see and hear nothing.

When evening came, Pranken, in presence of all, requested the father--such was the word he made use of emphatically--to remain in his room until he should be sent for. Very modestly, bashfully, and indulgently, Sonnenkamp betook himself to his room.

Long tables were now set in the courtyard, and food and drink were spread upon them, for the boats fastened together and gondolas were already coming down from the upper Rhine, and music was heard in the distance. The boats arranged themselves in front of the villa.

When it was dark, torches and parti-colored lamps, like a garland of fire, were hung upon the vessels.

Sonnenkamp was alone in his room, and he was continually trying to imagine what sort of an address would be made to him, and he repeated half aloud to himself his reply.

Approaching footsteps were now heard, and the Major and the Justice made their appearance. The Major said that they would bear him company for a while, and the Justice added that it must certainly touch him very deeply, for he would be obliged to be an actual witness of the grat.i.tude which the hearts of so many people, struggling for the means of living, felt towards him. Sonnenkamp expressed his thanks, and smoked away quietly, holding his cigar very tenderly, as if he felt bashful even in its presence.

He begged his friends to excuse him for not being able to entertain them; that he had lived so many years abroad, and now it almost overwhelmed him to have found a home in so many staunch hearts; and he did not deserve it, for he had given nothing but a little wretched money. The Justice wanted to make a reply, but the Major nodded to him to omit it. In such moments, he whispered to him, a man must be expected to make some extravagant speeches, and it is sufficient to listen quietly to what he says; and besides, he saw that Sonnenkamp was conning over the speech which he was soon to get off.

Several heavy footsteps were now heard, and Pranken said, opening the door,--

"This way, my men."

A deputation of boatmen entered, headed by Sevenpiper, and he begged Sonnenkamp to be so kind as to allow them to present to him a tribute of their grateful respect. With eyes cast down, and as if weighed down by the burden of honor heaped upon him, amidst the boatmen dressed in their light-colored clothes, Sonnenkamp went down the steps into the park.

Here a beautiful scene presented itself to his view. The boatmen were standing in the boats illuminated by differently colored lights, and singing in chorus a song which sounded on the distant air. Sonnenkamp stood there with folded hands, looking straight before him; and then he separated his hands, and rubbed the ring on the thumb of his right hand, which pained him. The song ended, and a cheer was called for in honor of the great benefactor. The cannons roared, and the reports were echoed and re-echoed from the mountains, so that it was proclaimed through the land as with a voice of thunder up the river and down.

Sonnenkamp returned his thanks in a brief but hearty speech; Roland stood at his right hand and Manna at his left. He placed his right hand upon the shoulder of his son, by this means hiding the thumb, and with the other hand he took Manna's; he concluded with the request that the good neighbors would be pleased to extend their kindness also to his children.

A lad, who was standing at the helm, wearing the clothes which Roland had sent him on his birthday, now called for a cheer for Roland; again the cannons fired. Roland said to the Major: I cannot make a speech. He went down, and got on board the boat and shook hands with the men; and he now perceived, for the first time, that Eric was on the boat. He sat behind the others and had a.s.sisted them in singing; the school-teacher, Fa.s.sbender, was sitting with him.

They all now came on sh.o.r.e. The boatmen, with a band of music, marched through the park to the tables that had been spread for their entertainment. Sonnenkamp immediately gave orders, and in a sharp tone, that the chairs should be removed.

"It isn't necessary for them to sit down," said he to Pranken; "I had imagined you would have thought of that. Have them out of the way soon.

You can't trust these common people, they soon get out of order. Let the wine be taken on board the boats, and there they may get as crazy as they please."

At the first gla.s.s Sevenpiper proposed the health of Frau Sonnenkamp, and Sonnenkamp returned thanks in her behalf from the outside steps, and expressed his regret that his wife, on account of illness, could not be present. He begged them to be as quiet as possible, for she was very sensitive. A damper was thus put upon the merriment, and Eric led the men back to the boats. They took their departure, the cannons roared, the music struck up, and then all was again still at the villa.

They sat in a friendly circle in the grand saloon, and Sonnenkamp looked more used up than he had ever been before; his features lighted up, however, when the Major, who had a happy thought, said,--

"This must all be reported by a good hand in the newspaper! You, Comrade," turning to Eric, "you will certainly do it up finely. Not a word; you must."

Eric explained that he had no intention of refusing; he had only wanted to do of his own accord what the Major had suggested. The Major gave him a violent grip of the hand, and did not drop it until Eric said,--

"If you squeeze my hand any longer, I shall not be able to write to-morrow."

The Major went to Eric's mother, and commended him for having sung with the people; he only regretted that Fraulein Milch had not been a spectator of the beautiful celebration, but she was stiff-necked in regard to everything connected with the Sonnenkamp house. He could not imagine why it was; she was in every other respect so kind towards everybody.

The Professorin knew why Fraulein Milch stayed away, and it gave her a severe twinge, that she herself had to be present, and that her son was to proclaim the fame of this man, who, in all that he did, had an entirely different end in view from what Eric imagined. She looked at the man, at his children, and at the whole company, and could not help thinking how it would be, if, instead of these salutes of cannon in his honor that now echoed in the night, a wholly different report should be heard over mountain and valley.

The company at last departed. Roland and Eric accompanied the Mother home. Roland was brimful of joy over this tribute of universal respect, and Eric took care to impress upon him again how great a happiness it was, to be able so to make other people happy. Roland spoke of the intention of his father to set out walnut trees throughout the whole region, and complained that he himself seemed to be like Alexander of Macedon, who found fault with his father, Philip, for leaving nothing for him to do. The Mother and Eric rejoiced at this awakened zeal of the youth, and when he took leave, the Mother shed tears as she kissed him.

"What was the matter with your mother, that she was so sad all the evening?" said Roland, as they were returning home.

"She has lost the key-note of joy," replied Eric.

That very night he wrote a spirited account of the benevolent Inst.i.tution, and the cheerful festivities, and sent it to Professor Crutius at the capital. The next day but one, the journal came to the villa. Sonnenkamp thanked Eric for his well-written communication, and Roland begged,--

"Give me the paper; I will keep it for a perpetual remembrance. I am so glad that I am going to be a soldier. If I win battles, it will be published in the papers, and the scholars will be obliged to hear of my name, and of my deeds, just like those of Miltiades, and Was.h.i.+ngton, and Napoleon."

There was another communication published in the official gazette, and Pranken did not deny that he was the author of it. What Eric had written was every way fine, but this communication came to the eyes of the Prince, and so was of far greater importance, and soon showed its results.

CHAPTER X.

THE VICTORIA REGIA IN BLOOM.

The Cabinetsrathin proved herself to be grateful and well informed; she showed to Sonnenkamp a letter from her husband, in which he stated that the Prince had read with great satisfaction the account of the Inst.i.tution and the popular celebration. But a much more important point was, that the Prince expressed the intention of paying a visit in person to the famous green-houses and fruit-plantations of Sonnenkamp.