CHAPTER II
The next day early, Cousin George, my son Jacob, and myself, afterhaving eaten a crust of bread and taken a glass of wine standing,harnessed our horses, and put them into our two carts to go and fetchmy cousin's wife and furniture at the Luetzelbourg station.
Before coming into our country, George had ordered his house to bewhitewashed and painted from top to bottom; he had laid new floors, andreplaced the old shingle roof with tiles. Now the paint was dry, thedoors and windows stood open day and night; the house could not berobbed, for there was nothing in it. My cousin, seeing that all wasright, had just written to his wife that she might bring their goodsand chattels with her.
So we started about six in the morning; upon the road the people ofHangeviller, of Metting, and Vechem, and those who were going to marketin the town, were singing and shouting "Vive l'Empereur!"
Everywhere they had voted "Yes," for peace. It was the greatest fraudthat had ever been perpetrated: by the way in which the Ministers, theprefects, and the Government newspapers had explained the Plebiscite,everybody had imagined that he had really voted peace.
Cousin George hearing this, said, "Oh, you poor country folks, how Ipity you for being such imbeciles! How I pity you for believing whatthese pickpockets tell you!"
That was how he styled the Emperor's government, and naturally I feltmy indignation rise; but Catherine's sound advice came back into mymind, and I thought, "Hold your tongue, Christian; don't say aword--that's your best plan."
All along the road we saw the same spectacle; the soldiers of the 84th,garrisoned at Phalsbourg, looked as pleased as men who have won thefirst prize in a lottery; the colonel declared that the men who did notvote "Yes" would be unworthy of being called Frenchmen. Every man hadvoted "Yes;" for a good soldier knows nothing but his orders.
So having passed before the gate of France, we came down to theBaraques, and then reached Luetzelbourg. The train from Paris hadpassed a few minutes before; the whistle could yet be heard under theSaverne tunnel.
My cousin's wife, with whom I was not yet acquainted, was standing byher luggage on the platform; and seeing George coming up, she joyfullycried, "Ah! is that you? and here is cousin."
She kissed us both heartily, gazing at us, however, with some surprise,perhaps on account of our blouses and our great wide-brimmed blackhats. But no! it could not be that; for Marie Anne Finck was a nativeof Wasselonne, in Alsace, and the Alsacians have always worn the blouseand wide-brimmed hat as long as I can remember. But this tall, thinwoman, with her large brown eyes, as bustling, quick, and active asgunpowder, after having passed thirty years at Paris, having first beencook at Krantheimer's, at a place called the Barriere de Montmartre,and then in five or six other inns in that great city, might well besomewhat astonished at seeing such simple people as we were; and nodoubt it also gave her pleasure.
That is my idea.
"The carts are there, wife," cried George, in high spirits. "We willload the biggest with as much furniture as we can, and put the restupon the smaller one. You will sit in front. There--look upthere--that's the Castle of Luetzelbourg, and that pretty little woodenhouse close by, covered all over with vine, that is a chalet, FatherHoffman-Forty's chalet, the distiller of cordials, you know the cordialof Phalsbourg."
He showed her everything.
Then we began to load; that big Yeri, who takes the tickets at the gateand who carries the parcels to Monsieur Andre's omnibus, comes to lendus a hand. The two carts being loaded about twelve o'clock, and mycousin's wife seated in front of the foremost one upon a truss ofstraw, we started at a quiet pace for the village, where we arrivedabout three o'clock. But I remember one thing, which I will not omitto mention. As we were coming out of Luetzelbourg, a heavy wagon-loadof coal was coming down the hill, a lad of sixteen or seventeen leadingthe horse by the bridle; at the door of the last house, a little childof five years old, sitting on the ground, was looking at our cartspassing by; he was out of the road, he could not be in any one's way,and was sitting there perfectly quiet, when the boy, without anyreason, gave him a lash with his whip, which made the child cry aloud.
My cousin's wife saw that.
"Why did that boy strike the child?" she inquired.
"That's a coal-heaver," George answered. "He comes from Sarrebrueck.He is a Prussian. He struck the child because he is a French child."
Then my cousin's wife wanted to get down to fall upon the Prussian; shecried to him, "You great coward, you lazy dog, you wicked wretch, comeand hit me." And the boy would have come to settle her, if we had notbeen there to receive him; but he would not trust himself to us, andlashed his horses to get out of our reach, making all haste to pass thebridge, and turning his head round toward us, for fear of beingfollowed.
I thought at the time that Cousin George was wrong in saying this boyhad a spite against the French because he was a Prussian; but I learnedafterward that he was right, and that the Germans have borne ill-willagainst us for years without letting us see it--like a set of sulkyfellows waiting for a good opportunity to make us feel it.
"It is our _good man_ that we have to thank for this," said George."The Germans fancy that we have named him Emperor to begin his uncle'stricks again; and now they look upon our Plebiscite as a declaration ofwar. The joy of our sous-prefets, our mayors, and our cures, and ofall those excellent people who only prosper upon the miseries ofmankind, proves that they are not very far out."
"Yes, indeed," cried his wife; "but to beat a child, that is cowardly."
"Bah! don't let us think about it," said George. "We shall see muchworse things than this; and we shall have deserved it, through our ownfolly. God grant that I may be mistaken!"
Talking so, we arrived home.
My wife had prepared dinner; there was kissing all round, theacquaintance was made; we all sat round the table, and dined withexcellent appetites. Marie Anne was gay; she had already seen theirhouse on her way, and the garden behind it with its rows of gooseberrybushes and the plum-trees full of blossom. The two carts, the horseshaving been taken out, were standing before their door; and from ourwindows might be seen the village people examining the furniture withgreat interest, hovering round and gazing with curiosity upon the greatheavy boxes, feeling the bedding, and talking together about this greatquantity of goods, just as if it was their own business.
They were remarking no doubt that our cousin George Weber and his wifewere rich people, who deserved the respectful consideration of thewhole country round; and I myself, before seeing these great chests,should never have dreamed that they could have so much belongingentirely to themselves.
This proved to me that my wife was perfectly right in continuing to payevery respect to my cousin; she had also cautioned our daughter Gredel:as for Jacob, he is a most sensible lad, who thinks of everything andneeds not to be told what to do.
But what astonished us a great deal more, was to see arriving abouthalf-past three two other large wagons from the direction of Wechem,and hearing my cousin cry, "Here comes my wine from Barr!"
Before coming to Rothalp he had himself gone to Barr, in Alsace, totaste the wine and to make his own bargains.
"Come, Christian," said he, rising, "we have no time to lose if we meanto unload before nightfall. Take your pincers and your mallet; youwill also fetch ropes and a ladder to let the casks down into thecellar."
Jacob ran to fetch what was wanted, and we all came out together--mywife, my daughter, cousin, and everybody. My man Frantz remained aloneat the mill, and immediately they began to undo the boxes, to carry thefurniture into the house: chests of drawers, wardrobes, bedsteads, andquantities of plates, dishes, soup-tureens, etc., which were carriedstraight into the kitchen.
My cousin gave his orders: "Put this down in a corner; set that inanother corner."
The neighbors helped us too, out of curiosity. Everything went onadmirably.
And then arrived the wagons from Barr; but they were obliged to be keptwaitin
g till seven o'clock. Our wives had already set up the beds andput away the linen in the wardrobes.
About seven o'clock everything was in order in the house. We nowthought of resting till to-morrow, when George said to us, turning uphis sleeves, "Now, my friend, here comes the biggest part of the work.I always strike the iron while it's hot. Let all the men who arewilling help me to unload the casks, for the drivers want to get backto town, and I believe they are right."
Immediately the cellar was opened, the ladder set up against the firstwagon, the lanterns lighted, the planks set leaning in their places,and until eleven o'clock we did nothing but unload wine, roll downcasks, let them down with my ropes, and put them in their places.
Never had I worked as I did on that day!
Not before eleven o'clock did Cousin George, seeing everything settledto his satisfaction, seem pleased; he tapped the first cask, filled ajug with wine, and said, "Now, mates, come up; we will have a gooddraught, and then we will get to bed."
The cellar was shut up, so we drank in the large parlor, and then all,one after another, went home to bed, upon the stroke of midnight.
All the villagers were astonished to see how these Parisians worked:they were all the talk. At one time it was how cousin had bought upall the manure at the gendarmerie; then how he had made a contract tohave all his land drained in the autumn; and then how he was going tobuild a stable and a laundry at the back of his house, and a distilleryat the end of his yard: he was enlarging his cellars, already thefinest in the country. What a quantity of money he must have!
If he had not paid his architect, the carpenters, and the masons cashdown, it would have been declared that he was ruining himself. But henever wanted a penny; and his solicitor always addressed him with asmiling face, raising his hat from afar off, and calling him "my dearMonsieur Weber."
One single thing vexed George: he had requested at the prefecture, assoon as he arrived, a license to open his public-house at the sign of"The Pineapple." He had even written three letters to Sarrebourg, buthad received no answer. Morning and evening, seeing me pass by with mycarts of grain and flour, he called to me through the window, "Hallo,Christian, this way just a minute!"
He never talked of anything else; he even came to tease me at themayoralty-house, to indorse and seal his letters with attestations asto his good life and character; and yet no answer came.
One evening, as I was busy signing the registration of the reportsdrawn up in the week by the school-master, he came in and said,"Nothing yet?"
"Cousin, I don't know the meaning of it."
"Very well," said he, sitting before my desk. "Give me some paper.Let me write for once, and then we will see."
He was pale with excitement, and began to write, reading it as he wenton:
"MONSIEUR LE SOUS-PREFET,--I have requested of you a license to open apublic-house at Rothalp. I have even had the honor of writing youthree letters upon the subject, and you have given me no answer.Answer me--yes or no! When people are paid, and well paid, they oughtto fulfil their duty.
"Monsieur le Sous-prefet, I have the honor to salute you.
"GEORGE WEBER,"_Late Sergeant of Marines._"
Hearing this letter, my hair positively stood on end.
"Cousin, don't send that," said I; "the sous-prefet would very likelyput you under arrest."
"Pooh!" said he, "you country people, you seem to look upon these folksas if they were demi-gods; yet they live upon our money. It is we whopay them: they are for our service, and nothing more. Here, Christian,will you put your seal to that?"
Then, in spite of all that my wife might say, I replied, "George, forthe love of Heaven, don't ask me that. I should most assuredly lose myplace."
"What place? Your place as mayor," said he, "in which you receive thecommands of the sous-prefet, who receives the commands of the prefet,who receives the orders of a Minister, who does everything that our_honest man_ bids him. I had rather be a ragman than fill such aplace."
The school-master, who happened to be there, seemed as if he hadsuddenly dropped from the clouds; his arms hung down the sides of hischair, and he gazed at my cousin with big eyes, just as a man stares ata dangerous lunatic.
I, too, was sitting upon thorns on hearing such words as these in themayoralty-house; but at last I told him I had rather go myself toSarrebourg and ask for the permission than seal that letter.
"Then we will go together," said he.
But I felt sure that if he spoke after this fashion to Monsieur leSous-prefet, he would lay hands upon both of us; and I said that Ishould go alone, because his presence would put a constraint upon me.
"Very well," he said; "but you will tell me everything that thesous-prefet has been saying to you."
He tore up his letter, and we went out together.
I don't remember that I ever passed a worse night than that. My wifekept repeating to me that our Cousin George had the precedence over thesous-prefet, who only laughed at us; that the Emperor, too, hadcousins, who wanted to inherit everything from him, and that everybodyought to stick to their own belongings.
Next day, when I left for Sarrebourg, my head was in a whirl ofconfusion, and I thought that my cousin and his wife would have donewell to have stayed in Paris rather than come and trouble us when wewere at peace, when every man paid his own rates and taxes, wheneverybody voted as they liked at the prefecture. I could say thatnever was a loud word spoken at the public-house; that people attendedwith regularity both mass and vespers; that the gendarmes never visitedour village more than once a week to preserve order; and that I myselfwas treated with consideration and respect: when I spoke but a word,honest men said, "That's the truth; that's the opinion of Monsieur leMaire!"
Yes, all these things and many more passed through my mind, and Ishould have liked to see Cousin George at Jericho.
This is just how we were in our village, and I don't know even yet bywhat means other people had made such fools of us. In the end, we havehad to pay dearly for it; and our children ought to learn wisdom by it.
At Sarrebourg, I had to wait two hours before I could see Monsieur leSous-prefet, who was breakfasting with messieurs the councillors of thearrondissement, in honor of the Plebiscite. Five or six mayors of theneighborhood were waiting like myself; we saw filing down the passagegreat dishes of fish and game, notwithstanding that the fishing andshooting seasons were over; and then baskets of wine; and we could hearour councillors laughing, "Ha! ha! ha!" They were enjoying themselvesmightily.
At last Monsieur le Sous-prefet came out; he had had an excellentbreakfast.
"Ha! is that you, gentlemen?" said he; "come in, come into the office."
And for another quarter of an hour we were left standing in the office.Then came Monsieur le Sous-prefet to get rid of the mayors, who wanteddifferent things for their villages. He looked delighted, and grantedeverything. At last, having despatched the rest, he said to me, "Oh!Monsieur le Maire, I know the object of your coming. You are come toask, for the person called George Weber, authorization to open apublic-house at Rothalp. Well, it's out of the question. That GeorgeWeber is a Republican; he has already offered opposition to thePlebiscite. You ought to have notified this to me: you have screenedhim because he is your cousin. Authorizations to keep public-housesare granted to steady men, devoted to his Majesty the Emperor, and whokeep a watch over their customers; but they are never granted to menwho require watching themselves. You should be aware of that."
Then I perceived that my rascally deputy, that miserable Placiard, haddenounced us. That old dry-bones did nothing but draw up perpetualpetitions, begging for places, pensions, tobacco excise offices,decorations for himself and his honorable family; speaking incessantlyof his services, his devotion to the dynasty, and his claims. Hisclaims were the denunciations, the informations which he laid beforethe sous-prefecture; and, to tell the truth, in those days these werethe most valid claims of all.
I was indignant, but I said nothi
ng; I simply added a few words infavor of Cousin George, assuring Monsieur le Sous-prefet that lies hadbeen told about him, that one should not believe everything, etc. Hehalf concealed a weary yawn; and as the councillors of thearrondissement were laughing in the garden, he rose and said politely,"Monsieur le Maire, you have your answer. Besides, you already havetwo public-houses in your village; three would be too many."
It was useless to stay after that, so I made a bow, at which he seemedpleased, and returned quietly to Rothalp. The same evening I went torepeat to George, word for word, the answer of the sous-prefet.Instead of getting angry, as I expected, my cousin listened calmly.His wife only cried out against that bad lot--she spoke of all thesous-prefets in the most disrespectful manner. But my cousin, smokinghis pipe after supper, took it all very easily.
"Just listen to me, Christian," said he. "In the first place, I ammuch obliged to you for the trouble you have taken. All that you tellme I knew beforehand; but I am not sorry to know it for certain. Yet Icould wish that the sous-prefet had had my letter. As it is, since Iam refused a license to sell a few glasses of wine retail, I will sellwine wholesale. I have already a stock of white wine, and no laterthan to-morrow I am off to Nancy. I buy a light cart and a good horse;thence I drive to Thiancourt, where I lay in a stock of red wine.After that I rove right and left all over the country, and I sell mywine by the cask or the quarter-cask, according to the solvency of mycustomers: instead of having one public-house, I will have twenty. Imust keep moving. With an inn, Marie Anne would still have beenobliged to cook; she has quite enough to do without that."
"Oh! yes," she said; "for thirty years I have been cooking dishes ofsauerkraut and sausage at Krantheimer's, at Montmartre, and at Auber's,in the cloister St. Benoit."
"Exactly so," said George; "and now you shall cook no longer; but youshall look after the crops, the stacking of the hay, the storage offruit and potatoes. We shall get in our dividends, and I will trotround the country with my little pony from village to village.Monsieur le Sous-prefet shall know that George Weber can live withouthim."
Hearing this, I learned that they had money in the funds, besides allthe rest; and I reflected that my cousin was quite right to laugh atall the sous-prefets in the world.
He came with me to the door, shaking hands with me; and I said tomyself that it was abominable to have refused a publican's license torespectable persons, when they gave it to such men as Nicolas Reiterand Jean Kreps, whom their own wives called their best customersbecause they dropped under the table every evening and had to becarried to bed.
On the other hand, I saw that it was better for me; for if my cousinhad been found infringing the law, I should have had to takedepositions, and there would have been a quarrel with Cousin George.So that all was for the best; the wholesale business being only theexciseman's affair.
What George had said, he did next day. At six o'clock he was alreadyat the station, and in five or six days he had returned from Nancy uponhis own char-a-banc, drawn by a strong horse, five or six years old, inits prime. The char-a-banc was a new one; a tilt could be put up inwet weather, which could be raised or lowered when necessary to deliverthe wine or receive back the empty casks.
The wine from Thiancourt followed. George stored it immediately, afterhaving paid the bill and settled with the carter. I was standing by.
As for telling you how many casks he had then in the house, that wouldbe difficult without examining his books; but not a wine-merchant inthe neighborhood, not even in town, could boast of such a vault of wineas he had, for excellence of quality, for variety in price, both redand white, of Alsace and Lorraine.
About that time, my cousin sent for me and Jacob to make a list of safecustomers. He wrote on, asking us, "How much may I give to So-and-So?"
"So much."
"How much to that man?"
"So much."
In the course of a single afternoon we had passed in review all theinnkeepers and publicans from Droulingen to Quatre Vents, from QuatreVents to the Dagsberg. Jacob and I knew what they were worth to thelast penny; for the man who pays readily for his flour, pays well forhis wine; and those who want pulling up by the miller are in no hurryto open their purses to the others.
That was the way Cousin George conducted his business.
He took a lad from our place, the son of the cooper Gros, to drive; andhe himself was salesman.
From that day he was only seen passing through Rothalp at a quick trot,his lad loading and unloading.
My cousin, also, had a notion of distilling in the winter. He boughtup a quantity of old second-hand barrels to hold the fruits which hehoped to secure at a cheap rate in autumn, and laid up a great store offirewood. Our country people had nothing to do but to look at him tolearn something; but the people down our way all think themselves soamazingly clever, and that does not help to make folks richer.
Well, it is plain to you that our cousin's prospects were looking verybright. Every day, returning from his journey to Saverne or toPhalsbourg, he would stop his cart before my door, and come to see mein the mill, crying out: "Hallo! good afternoon, Christian. How areyou to-day?"
Then we used to step into the back parlor, on account of the noise andthe dust, and we talked about the price of corn, cattle, provender, andeverything that is interesting to people in our condition.
What astonished him most of all was the number of Germans to be metwith in the mountains and in the plains.
"I see nobody else," said he; "wood-cutters, brewers' men, coopers,tinkers, photographers, contractors. I will lay a wager, Christian,that your young man Frantz is a German, too."
"Yes; he comes from the Grand Duchy of Baden."
"How does this happen?" asked George. "What is the meaning of it all?"
"They are good workmen," said I, "and they ask only half the wages."
"And ours--what becomes of them?"
"Ah, you see, Cousin George, that is their business."
"I understand," he said, "that we are making a great mistake. Even inParis, this crowd of Germans--crossing-sweepers, shop and warehousemen,carters, book-keepers, professors of every kind--astonished me; andsince Sadowa, there are twice as many. The more territory they annex,the farther they extend their view. Where is the advantage of ourbeing Frenchmen--paying every year heavier taxes; sending our childrento be drawn for the conscription, and paying for their exemption;bearing all the expenses of the State, all the insults of the prefets,the sous-prefets, and the police-inspectors, and the annoyances ofcommon spies and informers, if those fellows, who have nothing at allto bear, enjoy the same advantages with ourselves, and even greaterones; since our own people are sent off to make room for these, who bytheir great numbers lower the price of hand-labor? This benefits themanufacturers, the contractors, the bourgeois class, but it is miseryfor the mass of the people. I cannot understand it at all. Ourrulers, up there, must be losing their senses. If that goes on, theworking-men will cease to care for their country, since it cares solittle for them; and the Germans who are favored, and who hate us, willquietly put us out of our own doors."
Thus spoke my cousin, and I knew not what answer to make.
But about this time I had a great trouble, and although this affair ismy private business alone, I must tell you about it.
Since the arrival of George, my daughter Gredel, instead of lookingafter our business as she used to do, washing clothes, milking cows,and so on, was all the blessed day at Marie Anne's. Jacob complained,and said: "What is she about down there? By and by I shall have toprepare the clothes for the wash and hang them upon the hedges to dry,and churn butter. Cannot Gredel do her own work? Does she think weare her servants?"
He was right. But Gredel never troubled herself. She never hasthought of any one besides herself. She was down there along withGeorge's wife, who talked to her from morning till night about Paris,the grand squares, the markets, the price of eggs and of meat, what wascharged at the barrieres; of this,
that, and the other: cooking, andwhat not.
Marie Anne wanted company. But this did not suit me at all; and theless because Gredel had had a lover in the village for some time, andwhen this is the case, the best thing to be done is always to keep yourdaughter at home and watch her closely.
It was only a common clerk at a stone-quarry in Wilsberg, a lateartillery sergeant, Jean Baptiste Werner, who had taken the liberty tocast his eyes upon our daughter. We had nothing to say against thisyoung man. He was a fine, tall man, thin, with a bold expression andbrown mustaches, and who did his duty very well at the quarry by FatherHeitz; but he could earn no more than his three francs a day: and anyone may see that the daughter of Christian Weber was not to be thrownaway upon a man who earns three francs a day. No, that would never do.
Nevertheless, I had often seen this Jean Baptiste Werner going in themorning to his work with his foot-rule under his arm, stopping at themill-dam, as if to watch the geese and the ducks paddling about thesluice or the hens circling around the cock on the dunghill; and at thesame moment Gredel would be slowly combing her hair at her windowbefore the little looking-glass, leaning her head outside. I had alsonoticed that they said good-morning to each other a good way off, andthat that clerk always looked excited and flurried at the sight of mydaughter; and I had even been obliged to give Gredel notice to go andcomb her hair somewhere else when that man passed, or to shut herwindow.
This is my case, simply told.
That young man worried me. My wife, too, was on her guard.
You may now understand why I should have preferred to have seen ourdaughter at home; but it was not so easy to forbid her to go to mycousin's. George and his wife might have been angry; and that troubledus.
Fortunately about that time the eldest son of Father Heitz,* the ownerof the quarry, asked for Gredel in marriage.
* It is usual there for fathers of families to be distinguished asFather So-and-So.
For a long while, Monsieur Mathias Heitz, junior, had come every Sundayfrom Wilsberg to the "Cruchon d'Or," to amuse himself with Jacob, asyoung men do when they have intentions with regard to a family. He wasa fine young man, fat, with red cheeks and ears, and always welldressed, with a flowered velvet waistcoat, and seals to hiswatch-chain; in a word, just such a young man as a girl with any goodsense would be glad to have for a husband.
He had property too; he was the eldest of five children. I reckonedthat his own share might be fifteen to twenty thousand francs after thedeath of his parents.
Well, this young man demanded Gredel in marriage, and at once Jacob, mywife, and myself were agreed to accept him.
Only my wife thought that we ought to consult Cousin George and MarieAnne. Gredel was just there when I went in with Catherine; but behold!on the first mention of the thing she began to melt into tears, and tosay she would rather die than marry Mathias Heitz. You may imagine howangry we were. My wife was going to slap her face or box her ears; butmy cousin became angry now, and told us that we ought never to oblige agirl to marry against her will, because this was the way to makemiserable households. Then he led us out into the passage, telling usthat he took the responsibility of this affair: that he wished toobtain information, and that we were to tell the young man that werequired a month for reflection.
We could not refuse him that. Gredel would no longer come home; mycousin's wife begged us not to plague her, and we had to give way tothem; but it was one of the greatest troubles of my life. And Ithought: "Now you cannot give your daughter to whoever you like; is notthis really abominable?"
I felt angry with myself for having listened to my cousin: but,nevertheless, Gredel stayed with them a whole week, in consequence ofwhich we were obliged to hire a charwoman; and Jacob exclaimed thatGredel could not have offered him a worse insult than to refuse hisbest comrade, a rich fellow, who boldly paid down his money for ten,fifteen, and twenty bottles at the club without winking.
However, he never mentioned it to Cousin George, for whom he felt thegreatest respect on account of his expectations from him, and whosestrong language dismayed him.
At last my wife found that Gredel was staying too long away from home;the people of the village would talk about it; so one evening I went tosee George, to ask him what he had learned about Heitz's son.
It was after supper. Gredel, seeing me come in, slipped out into thekitchen, and my cousin said to me frankly: "Listen, Christian: here isthe matter in two words--Gredel loves another."
"Whom?"
"Jean Baptiste Werner."
"Father Heitz's clerk? the son of the woodward Werner, who has neverhad anything but potatoes to eat? Is she in love with him? Let thewretch come--let him come and ask her! I'll kick him down the stairs!And Gredel to grieve me so? Oh! I should never have believed it ofher!"
I could have cried.
"Come, Christian," said my cousin, "you must be reasonable."
"Reasonable! she deserves to have her neck wrung!"
I was in a fury; I wanted to lay hold on her. Happily, she had goneinto the garden, and George held me back. He obliged me to sit downagain, and said: "What is Mathias Heitz? a fat fool who knows nothingbut how to play at cards and drink. He was put to college atPhalsbourg, at M. Verrot's, like all the other respectable young men inthe district; but he now drives about in a char-a-banc in a floweredwaistcoat, with jingling seals: he could not possibly earn a couple ofpence--and the old man would like to be rid of him by marrying him. Ihave obtained information about him. He may come in for from fifteento twenty thousand francs some day; but what are fifteen thousandfrancs for an ass? He will eat them, he will drink them--perhaps hehas already swallowed half--and if there is a family, what are fifteenor even twenty thousand francs between five or six children? Formerly,when girls used to have an outfit for a marriage portion, and theeldest son succeeded his father, things went on pretty well. It didnot want much talent to carry on a well-established business, or tofollow up a trade from father to son. But at the present day,mother-wit and good sense stand in the foremost rank. GrandfatherHeitz was an industrious man; he made money; but Father Mathias hasnever added a sou to his property, and the son has not a grain of goodsense."
"But the other fellow--why he has nothing at all."
"The other, Jean Baptiste Werner, is a good man, who has done his dutyby Father Heitz; he knows everything, manages everything, takes inorders, makes all the arrangements for the carriage of stone by cartsor by railway. Heitz puts the money into his pocket, and Werner hasall the work, for want of a little capital to set himself up inbusiness. He has seen foreign service. I have seen his certificatesof character in Africa, in Mexico: they are excellent. If I were inyour place, I would give Gredel to him."
"Never!" cried I, thumping upon the table; "I had rather drown her."
Half the wine-glasses were shattered on the floor; but my cousin wasnot angry.
"Well, Christian," said he, "you are wrong. Think it over. Gredelwill remain here. I will answer for her. You must not take her awayat present. You would be very likely to ill-treat her, and then youwould repent of it."
"Let her stay as long as you like!" said I, taking up my hat; "let hernever darken my doors again." And I rushed out.
Never in my life had I been so angry and so grieved. At home I did noteven dare to say what I had learned; but Jacob suspected it, and oneday, as Werner was stopping in front of the mill, he shook hispitchfork at him, shouting: "Come on!" But Werner pretended not tohear him, and went on his way.
I was at last, however, obliged to tell my wife the whole matter. Atfirst she was near fainting; but she soon recovered, and said to me:"Well, if Gredel won't have young Mathias, we shall keep our hundredlouis, and we shall have no need to hire a new servant. I shouldprefer that, for one cannot trust strange servants in a house."
"Yes; but how can we declare to Mathias Heitz that Gredel refuses hisson?"
"Oh, don't trouble yourself, Christian," said she; "leave me alone, a
nddon't let us quarrel with Cousin George: that's the principal thing. Iwill say that Gredel is too young to be married; that is the properthing to say, and nobody can answer that."
Catherine quieted me in this way. But this business was still rackingmy brain, when extraordinary things came to pass, which we were farfrom expecting, and which were to turn our hair gray, and that of manyothers with us.
The Plébiscite; or, A Miller's Story of the War Page 2
