Seed-time and Harvest Part 85

"Thunder and lightning! I say! Such deviltry is not to be put up with!

Hold on, I will----"

"Hold!" cried Ruhrdanz, "you must not blame her for that, it is only her natural wickedness; you must let it go for this time; but you can tell the grand-duke about it and show him your nose, if you like, that he may see how they have treated you."

Hauning said nothing, and the procession moved on; at the boundary the laborers sent home their wives and children, who had followed so far, behind the carriage, and about seven o'clock they marched, slowly and solemnly, into Rahnstadt.

Uncle Brasig lay by the window, smoking his pipe, and thinking over his heroic deeds of the previous evening. Kurz, although he had not attended the fraternity ball, was fearfully cross, and went scolding about his shop: "The stupid dunce! the harlequin! Only wait! Only come home!" and, although he intended to be in such different circ.u.mstances afterwards, he must at length come home, that is to say, Herr Sussmann.

Herr Sussmann danced over the threshold. Kurz braced his two hands against the counter, and looked at him, as if he would spring over the counter in his wrath, and meet Herr Sussmann in the hall; he let him, however, come into the shop first.

"Morning, princ.i.p.al, princ.i.p.alchen, princ.i.p.alchen!" cried Herr Sussmann, staggering about the shop, and finally seating himself on the rim of a herring cask, with his hat c.o.c.ked on one side: "Morning, Kurzchen, Schurzchen, Wurzchen----" but he had not time to finish his variations, Kurz had his hands in his hair, knocked off his hat into the herring-cask, and began dragging him about the shop by his ambrosial locks. Herr Sussmann groped blindly about him for something to lay hold of, and caught at the stop-c.o.c.k of the oil-cask; the c.o.c.k came out, and the oil poured out in a stream.

"Good heavens!" cried Kurz, "my oil! my oil!" and he let go of Herr Sussmann, and stuck his right fore-finger into the hole. Herr Sussmann held up the c.o.c.k in triumph, and, as it often happens that crazy or intoxicated people do uncommonly clever things, the bright idea occurred to Herr Sussmann that he would do his work thoroughly. So he pulled out the c.o.c.k from the vinegar barrel.

"Oh, good gracious! my vinegar!" cried Kurz, and he stuck his left fore-finger into the vinegar barrel. And as he was now fairly caught, and stooping over, the opportunity was too tempting for Herr Sussmann to neglect. "Princ.i.p.alchen! Kurzchen!"--whack! "Leben sie wohl, Tuten dreherchen!"--whack, whack! "Johannageht, und nimmer kehrt sie wieder!"--whack, whack, whack! Then he fished his hat out of the herring-cask, put it on, as much askew as possible, laid the two c.o.c.ks on the counter, about twenty feet from Kurz, and danced, laughing, out of the door.

"Help!" screamed Kurz, "help! he-l-p!" But his people were not in the house, and his good old advocate was in the back garden, cutting asparagus, and the only one who heard him was Uncle Brasig. "Karl,"

said he, "it seems to me, as if Kurz were yelling. I will go over, and see if anything has happened."

"He-l-p!" cried Kurz.

"Preserve us!" said Brasig, "what an uproar you are making here, at seven o'clock in the morning!"

"Infamous rascal!"

"How? Is that the way you greet me?"

"Good-for-nothing scamp!"

"You are a rude fellow!"

"Give me those c.o.c.ks, that lie on the counter!"

"Get your dirty c.o.c.ks yourself, you donkey, you!"

"I cannot, the oil and the vinegar will run out, and I don't mean you, I mean Sussmann."

"That is another thing," said Brasig, perching himself on the counter, and swinging his legs, "what is the matter with you?"

Kurz related how he had got into this situation.

"You strike me very comically, Kurz, but let this be a warning to you; a man is always punished in the members in which he has sinned."

"I beg you----"

"Quiet, Kurz! You have always sinned in oil and vinegar, since you have emptied the quart measure with a jerk, so that often two or three spoonfuls would be left in it. Will you always give right measure hereafter? Will you never look at the cards again, when we are playing Boston?"

"Good heavens! yes, yes!"

"Well, then, I will release you," and with that he brought the c.o.c.ks.

Hardly was Kurz free when he darted out of the door, as if he expected to find Herr Sussmann waiting for him outside. Brasig followed, and they came out just as Pomuchelskopp and his escort were pa.s.sing.

"Preserve us! What is this? Ruhrdanz, what does this mean?"

"Don't take it ill, Herr Inspector, we have turned out our Herr."

Brasig shook his head: "You have done a very foolish thing!" and he fell into the procession, and many people who were in the street followed to the burgomeister's house. Here the laborers took out the horses, and Ruhrdanz and Willgans and Brinkmann, and several others went in to see the burgomeister.

"Well, Herr," said Ruhrdanz, "we have got him here."

"Whom?"

"Eh, our Herr Pomuchelskopp."

"What? What is that?"

"Oh, nothing, only that we won't have him for our Herr any longer."

"Good heavens, people, what have you done."

"Nothing but what is right, Herr Burgomeister."

"Have you laid hands on your master?"

"Not a finger; but the old woman there, she laid hands on Willgans, for she----"

But the burgomeister had gone out of the room, and stood by the carriage, and begged the company to get out; they did so, and he brought the family into his living room.

"Oh, what will become of us! what will become of us!" moaned Pomuchel.

"Herr Burgomeister, you know, I have always been a good master to my people."

"Kopp, for shame!" interposed Hauning.

"No," said the burgomeister, paying no attention to Hauning, and looking the Herr Proprietor firmly in the eye, "you have not been a good master. You know I have often remonstrated with you, on this account, and you know that, because of your behavior to your people, I have declined to act as your magistrate. I have nothing to do with the business, and if I were to concern myself in it, merely as a private citizen, I should not take your side, but that of your poor, oppressed people. You must excuse me, therefore----"

"But you can at least give me your advice," begged Pomuchelskopp. "What shall I do?"

"You cannot go back to Gurlitz, at least not at present, it might give occasion for violent deeds; you must wait the result, here. But wait a moment; I will speak to the people again."

Well, what good could that do? The people were firmly resolved in the matter; the bad fellows among them had yielded to the decision of the older, more peaceable laborers and villagers, and now they were all so fully persuaded that they were in the right, that they were not to be moved from their purpose.

"No, Herr," said Ruhrdanz, "we will never take him back; that is settled."

"You are guilty of a great offence, and it may go hard with you."

"Yes, that may be; but if you talk of offences, Herr Pomuchelskopp has been guilty of worse offences against us."

"Those foolish people at the Reformverein, have filled your heads with their silly ideas."