Quicksands Part 7

"I did not learn them at school," Egon said, smiling. "I was always ambitious to learn something more than was prescribed by the school curriculum, and I have a natural gift for languages. I like to read great poets in the original, translations are apt to be but weak transcriptions, therefore I studied English to read Shakespeare, and Italian for the sake of Dante. Every educated man understands French of course, and Greek and Latin form part of the usual cla.s.sical education."

Frau von Osternau was indeed surprised. Were these quietly-uttered words true, or was Herr Pigglewitch boasting of accomplishments which he did not possess, in the belief that no one at Castle Osternau could put his knowledge to the test? If this last were the case he was mistaken. True, she herself had no knowledge of Greek, Latin, or Italian, but she spoke both French and English quite well. She addressed him in English, expressing her pleasure at his proficiency in languages; he answered her in the same tongue with an accent and with fluency superior to her own. French he spoke with equal purity and facility. She could not, after a short conversation in both tongues, forbear an expression of her admiration of his ability, and was a little embarra.s.sed when he rejoined, in German, "I have then been undergoing a slight examination. Perhaps Lieutenant von Osternau will have the kindness to continue it, and to test my qualifications in Latin and Greek, mathematics, chemistry, and physics. I gladly place myself at his disposal."

"I have never had anything to do with school examinations, and feel no desire to begin to-day," the Lieutenant replied, giving the insufferable Pigglewitch a look that was meant to be crus.h.i.+ng, but which was only furious.

"You are right there, Cousin Albrecht," Lieschen interposed; "you would come to grief if you attempted the part of an examiner."

The Lieutenant had no chance to reply to his young cousin, for Herr von Osternau rose from table and every one followed his example.

On week-days the inspectors always took their leave, returning to their duties, but to-day Herr Storting lingered and asked for leave of absence for the next morning. Herr von Osternau seemed surprised. "Is your business in Breslau so very pressing?" he asked. "You know every hour is precious during the harvesting."

"Yes, papa, Herr Storting has very urgent business in Breslau,"

Lieschen replied in the young man's stead. "He and Herr Pigglewitch must both pay a visit there to-morrow morning. Please, papa, do not ask why now, I will tell you by and by."

"And why not now?"

"Because Cousin Albrecht stands there p.r.i.c.king his ears most curiously, and the matter is no affair of his. I am sure, papa dear, you will allow Herr Storting and the Herr Candidate to go to-morrow without asking any questions. They will both be back by noon."

"Of course we must all do as you please, you witch," her father replied, stroking back the golden curls from his darling's forehead. "I will ask no questions. Certainly they should both have gone without your interference. I am sure Herr Storting has good reasons for wis.h.i.+ng to spend any time away from Osternau during the hay-harvest."

Storting looked a little confused. "Indeed you are most kind, Herr von Osternau. I was perhaps in a trifle too much haste, I might postpone----"

"Do not believe him, papa, he cannot possibly postpone, and I'll tell you in your ear why,--you will allow me, Herr Pigglewitch?"

"No, Fraulein Lieschen, I beg you, on the contrary, to withdraw your request," Egon replied. "I cannot suffer Herr Storting to leave his duty here to do me a favour. The matter in question is a favour to me, Herr von Osternau, and I really cannot see why it should be kept secret. I could not appear at dinner in the only clothes which I possessed. Herr Storting therefore very kindly lent me one of his own suits, and offered to go with me to-morrow to Breslau and help me in the choice of attire suitable for a residence in Castle Osternau. This is the entire mystery."

"A ridiculous trifle!" exclaimed the Lieutenant. "And Herr Storting was to go to Breslau during harvest for this? An extraordinary idea!"

"Which never occurred to me," replied Egon. "Herr Storting offered to accompany me, and I accepted his proposal, not imagining that his short absence could be any disadvantage in the farming operations, which are carried on under the distinguished auspices of Herr Lieutenant von Osternau. Since, however, I am now better informed, I beg to decline his kind offer, and will, with Herr von Osternau's permission, go to Breslau alone."

"For Heaven's sake, do not let him, papa!" Lieschen whispered to her father. "Think of that black coat! No, you must not go alone, Herr Storting must go with you and advise you."

Herr von Osternau laughed at his daughter's zeal, nevertheless the remembrance of the black coat outweighed any objection he might have had to dispensing with Storting's services. The Herr Candidate might be a very accomplished and cultivated man, but he certainly had no idea of how to dress himself. Storting must look after him in this respect. He did not indeed give this as a reason for his ready acquiescence in his daughter's wishes, but cut short a remonstrance on the part of the Lieutenant by declaring that the matter was settled, Herr Storting and Herr Pigglewitch would start on the morrow for Breslau, and if they found their business required more time than was antic.i.p.ated, they need be in no hurry to return, but could spend the entire day there. When the Lieutenant here ventured to remark that Herr von w.a.n.gen would find it difficult to superintend the harvesters alone, his cousin replied, with some asperity, "Then perhaps you, Cousin Albrecht, will have the kindness to take Herr Storting's place, since he is certainly going to Breslau. And now no more of this. We will take our coffee in the billiard-room. Do you play billiards, Herr Pigglewitch? Yes? So much the better, you can take part in our game. There are usually but three of us, Cousin Albrecht, Lieschen, and myself. Four players make the game much more entertaining. We usually spend an hour every day in billiards. When I am kept within-doors, as to-day, it is my only exercise. You must prepare yourself for a hard contest, Herr Pigglewitch, for Albrecht is a master of the game. Fortunately, we play for glory only, and Lieschen and I are always forced to yield this to the Lieutenant."

"Herr Pigglewitch will probably dispute this glory with me: he is, no doubt, also a master of the game," rejoined the Lieutenant.

Albrecht certainly was an extremely good billiard-player, he had had an admirable opportunity to become so during the hours spent at his military club, and he was inclined to resent the idea that he should find an actual antagonist in a man who could not possibly be a proficient in a game requiring for its mastery both time and money.

Chance gave him precedence of Egon in the present game, and he made sure of soon establis.h.i.+ng the Candidate's insignificance and his own supremacy as a player. But he was much mistaken; he could not but see very shortly that he had found his master. At Egon's first successful stroke Albrecht muttered something about "luck" and "beginners," but when the course of the game did but further reveal the Candidate's skill and brilliant play, the Lieutenant grew furious. He tried to preserve an appearance of equanimity, but when the game was at an end he refused to take part in another, declaring that he must ride out to the harvest-field. It did not improve his temper, when his cousin repeated his request to him to stay for one more round, for Lieschen to say, with a laugh, "Do not tease him, papa dear. How can you ask him to play on after his discomfiture? He must calm himself down with a ride,--

"'He scarcely breathes within these walls, Forth to the meadows nature calls!'"

"Your school-girl quotation fails of its mark," the Lieutenant said, crossly; "I am not at all discomfited, and it would not in the least affect me if this gentleman, who appears to have used his time for study to such good purpose, really played a better game of billiards than I. My calling is not that of a billiard-player, and I have never attempted to acquire the artistic skill which I grant is possessed by Herr Pigglewitch. I leave that to professional gamblers."

He uttered the last words with an expression of great contempt, looking full at Egon, who had hitherto listened in silence, but who now turned with flas.h.i.+ng eyes and addressed the Lieutenant in a voice which he forced to sound calm: "You have made use of a word, Herr Lieutenant, which I require you instantly to retract. Out of regard for the ladies and Herr von Osternau, I have hitherto taken no notice of your offensive expressions; your last remark touches my honour, and you will either retract it or give me satisfaction."

"The fellow is insane. He presumes to take me to task and to demand satisfaction of me!"

"Which you will give the gentleman, Cousin Albrecht," Herr von Osternau said, sharply, before Egon could reply to this fresh insult. "You will give it immediately by apologizing to him. Take care, cousin! I would advise you to reflect before uttering words that may be irrevocable. I told you an hour ago that I would not suffer the man to whom I have intrusted my children's instruction to be treated beneath my roof otherwise than as a gentleman. You have insulted Herr Pigglewitch without provocation; this I will not permit. I give you your choice: either you retract your offensive expressions, or you leave Castle Osternau this very day. I am not jesting, Cousin Albrecht, my word is immovable. You have insulted me in insulting Herr Pigglewitch. I require an apology not only for his sake, but for my own."

Was this the easy, good-natured man who had not spoken a harsh word for years to the cousin whom he had received into his household? His figure, usually slightly bent, stood erect, his keen glance scanned Albrecht's features, in which surprise was evident, as he spoke in a manner that admitted of no contradiction.

"You are very kind in thus espousing my cause, Herr von Osternau," Egon interposed. "I cannot think of causing any dispute between yourself and your relative by my presence beneath your roof. I thank you sincerely for your generous words, which make all the more clear to me the necessity for ending this contest by my departure from Castle Osternau.

I see clearly that I am not fit for the position of tutor. I never should have undertaken to accept it. I shall know how to obtain satisfaction hereafter from Lieutenant von Osternau, and it only remains for me, my dear sir, to bid you a grateful farewell."

"Not at all! Not a word of that!" the old man replied. "You have made a contract which cannot he cancelled save by the consent of both parties.

You will, as you have promised to do, attempt the duties of my children's tutor. Until that attempt has been made I shall not release you from your promise. And as you have just heard, I demand an apology, not only for you but for myself. This Cousin Albrecht will make, and immediately, or leave Castle Osternau forever. Forever, Albrecht!

Reflect what you are doing!"

The Lieutenant could not meet his cousin's flas.h.i.+ng eyes, before which he cast down his own. The fire of his anger had quickly died out, but from his very soul he hated this insolent plebeian Candidate who had thus humiliated him. And he must apologize to him,--he must, he could not refuse to do so. He knew how stern was his cousin's resolve when once made known, how implacable his resentment when once it had found a lodgement in his kindly nature. There was no choice left him. What was he to do if his generous relative refused to shelter him? He thought of the future with horror. He had lost at play during his occasional visits to Berlin the entire large sum of this year's salary received for his unimportant services at Osternau, and had contracted debts for which he was continually dunned, although his creditors knew that they would be paid, as had so frequently been the case before, by his magnanimous cousin. How should he satisfy them if he were banished from Castle Osternau?

"Well, Cousin Albrecht, I await your decision."

The Lieutenant bit his lip; he could no longer hesitate; he must submit to the humiliation, but he registered a mental vow that he would avenge it upon the man who had been the cause of it. His task now was to make this humiliation as little apparent as possible: so, although the blood tingled in his veins, he forced himself to appear calm, as he replied to his cousin, "There really was no need of harsh words from you, Cousin Fritz, to induce me to recall a thoughtless expression, which I regretted as soon as I perceived that it had been misunderstood. I had no idea of styling Herr Pigglewitch a professional gambler, and I should have told him this, and asked to be excused for my misunderstood expression, had he not demanded with such an air of menace the satisfaction which the difference in our rank makes it impossible that I should give him. This declaration, to which I add that I had no intention to offend, and that I gladly retract any expression that could be considered insulting, will, I hope, entirely accord with your wishes."

"Entirely, and I think Herr Pigglewitch too will be quite satisfied,"

said Herr von Osternau, kindly, offering Albrecht his hand.

Egon bowed. He was not satisfied, but the Candidate Pigglewitch was forced to be so since Herr von Osternau was. Egon von Ernau would have rejected the apology and demanded again the satisfaction that had been denied him, finding in the reference to a difference of rank a fresh insult, but in the Candidate Pigglewitch such conduct would be unjustifiable, he must submit to seem content. He was even forced to admit that his adversary had gone farther to conciliate him than was absolutely necessary when, upon leaving the room to ride out to the harvest-fields, the haughty Lieutenant von Osternau offered him his hand in token of amity.

CHAPTER VI.

SOLIMAN'S TRICKS.

It is no easy matter to be a tutor! This was the sum of Egon von Ernau's reflections as he sat at the study-table in his sitting-room an hour after the late scene with the Lieutenant, awaiting his little pupil. When Albrecht left the billiard-room, Herr and Frau von Osternau had a conversation with their new tutor concerning the course they wished him to pursue with their son. Frau von Osternau was desirous that the child should not be kept too long at his books. She thought that with two hours of daily instruction he could soon learn to read, write, and cipher, which was all that need be thought of at present.

If, in addition, Herr Pigglewitch would give him a music-lesson every day, Fritz would be sufficiently occupied, at least for the first few months. Any excess of application was sure to be a physical disadvantage to the child, and his physical health and strength were the first considerations.

These views certainly differed widely from any that Egon had found in the teachers who had conducted his own education; nevertheless they seemed reasonable, and he undertook, by Frau von Osternau's desire, to give Fritz his first hour of instruction on the same afternoon.

For the first hour, which was to begin at five o'clock, he was now preparing himself. It had suddenly occurred to him upon his return to his room that he really had no conception of how to teach a boy to read and write. He had but the faintest remembrance of how he had been taught himself, and there was besides a dim idea in his mind of having heard somewhere that the old methods were no longer in use, that children were not taught first to read and then to write, but that there was a way by which both arts could be acquired at the same time, and with surprising rapidity. What could it be?

He opened one of the various books for the instruction of the young with which his table had been provided by the careful mother of his pupil, and tried to imagine himself a perfectly ignorant child,--a very difficult task.

It is no easy matter, after all, to be a tutor! How had Egon looked down hitherto upon this calling, and here he sat racking his brains over the problem of how to teach a child his A B C! Half an hour pa.s.sed like a moment, when a timid knock was heard at the door, and Fritz entered shyly. Positively Egon felt his heart beat quicker. Never, even when about to pa.s.s the most difficult examination, had he felt such trepidation, such a sense of the utter inadequacy of his knowledge as at this moment. He could not but smile at his cowardice, he could not understand himself. How had he come to take thus seriously the wild jest that had been prompted by the whim of the moment?

'Some things are too sacred to be trifled with!' A charming child had said these words to him a few hours before, and they had sunk into his heart. He had intended to play a madcap prank, but the jest had come to be earnest. He was really undertaking the duty of a teacher, and this duty took grand and sacred proportions in his eyes as he looked at the handsome boy gazing with a smile, but with some shyness, into his face.

In fact, the teacher was more embarra.s.sed than the pupil, but he collected himself, and drew the little fellow towards him, stroked his curls, and said, kindly,--

"Well, Fritz, are you going to please mamma, and study like a good lad?"

"Yes, I have promised mamma, and I promised Lieschen that I will not laugh when I call you Herr Pigglewitch."

"That's right, my boy. Well, here is a primer, and I see you have brought a slate and pencil. We'll begin at once."