Das landhaus am Rhein. English by Berthold Auerbach
CHAPTER XXI.
LEARN THE EVIL THAT IS IN MAN.
Villa Eden had hitherto been surrounded by a mysterious magic. Fear andenvy had given rise to the report that there was something wrong aboutthe inmates; about Herr Sonnenkamp, whom everybody saw, and Frau Ceres,whom scarcely anybody saw. The threats of spring-guns and man-trapsposted upon the walls imbued the ignorant people in the neighborhoodwith an almost superstitious fear. It was even said that HerrSonnenkamp had smeared the trap with a poison for which there was noantidote. The servants of the house affected somewhat the reserve oftheir superiors; they had little intercourse with others, and werehardly saluted by them. But the mysterious dragon, which, no one knewhow or where, kept secret watch over the villa, seemed nothing but ascarecrow after this robbery; the beautiful white house was stripped ofits charm; it was as if all the bolts were thrown back. Quickly thereport gained ground that the house-servants had committed the robbery.
The people on the roads and in the villages through which the carriagepassed looked up and nodded to Eric, Roland, and Pranken, as they droveswiftly by. The few who raised their caps did it hesitatingly, as ifthey, like the rest, would say, It is all up now with your master; theofficers will soon find out what has been going on among you.
The three men found everything in confusion at the villa when theyarrived.
The porter at once expressed conviction that the robbery had beencommitted by persons belonging to the house, because all the doors hadbeen closely fastened, and not a dog had barked; showing that thethieves must have been familiar with the house, and well known to thedogs.
The officers were already on the spot. Sonnenkamp's work-room had beenentered, and treasures stolen whose value could not be estimated, amongthem a dagger with a jewelled handle. The thieves had even tried toforce the fire-proof safe, but in vain. Great goblets of gold andsilver which stood upon the sideboard in the dressing-room haddisappeared, as well as Roland's gold watch, which, when he went toWolfsgarten, he had left on the table beside his bed. His pillow hadalso been taken, but was afterwards found on the wall, where it hadserved to make a smooth and easy passage over the broken glass whichhad been intended to make the wall insurmountable.
Two footprints were discovered in the park and behind the hot-house.The thieves must have stumbled among the heaps of garden mould, for onone of these was plainly visible the impression of a human body; one ofthe thieves had evidently fallen there. Here was also found a pair ofthe dwarfs old boots, which, on being compared with the footprints inthe garden, were found exactly to correspond. Thus a clue was gained,though a very uncertain one. The dwarf just then came by, on his way tohis accustomed work, and listened in astonishment to an account of whathad happened. He was allowed to work on undisturbed.
The officer who had charge of the investigation, and his assistants,the burgomaster of the village, and some of the chief men, wereassembled in the balcony-room, examining the various servants. Rolandstood apart, his eyes fixed upon the pillow which had been stolen andmade use of by the thieves in climbing the wall. He grew very pale, ashe stood there listening to the questions that were asked of one manafter another, in the hope of extorting something from each.
The dwarf appeared, and said that a pair of boots had been stolen fromhim.
"Yes," replied the officer at once, "the theft was committed in yourboots."
The dwarfs face wore a simple expression, as if he had not understoodwhat was meant.
The officer ordered his instant arrest. He complained piteously thatthe innocent were always the ones to be suspected, and Roland beggedthat the poor creature might be allowed to go free.
"I will throttle any one who touches me," cried the dwarf, hisexcitement seeming to make a different being of him.
At a sign from the officer, two men quietly bound the poor creature'shands behind his back.
Eric led Roland away. Why should he see this night-side of humannature?
Happily the Major appeared at this moment, and Eric delivered Roland tohim.
"Here is a lesson for you, young man," said the Major. "Everything canbe stolen from you, except your heart, when in the right place, andexcept what you have in your head; they can never be stolen from you.Mark that."
The officer had the servants brought before him, and questioned them asto the persons who had lately visited the villa. They mentioned thenames of many, but the porter said,--
"The Herr Captain took the huntsman by himself over the whole house,and when he left he said to me, 'You guard the rich man's money andtreasures, when it would be better to throw the doors wide open, and toscatter it abroad in the world.'"
Eric could not deny that the huntsman had observed everything veryclosely, and had talked in a confused way about the distinction of richand poor; yet he thought he could answer for the man's honesty.
The officer made no answer, but despatched two of his men to search thehouse of Claus.
The huntsman smiled and shrugged his shoulders, when he saw what theirintention was. Nothing was found, but in a kennel was chained a dogthat barked incessantly.
"Unfasten the dog's chain," said one of the men to Claus, who hadfollowed them through all the rooms and into the court, saying nothing,but keeping his lips moving all the time.
"What for?"
"Because I bid you; if you don't do it at once, I shall shoot the dogthrough the head."
Upon the dog being set free, the kennel was searched, and in it, underthe straw, were found Roland's watch and the jewel-hilted dagger. Clauswas immediately bound and put under arrest, in spite of his earnestprotestations of innocence. On the way from his house to the villa hekept raising his chains, as if to show them appealingly to the fields,the vineyards, and the heavens.
A list was made out of the stolen articles as far as they could bedescribed, and Roland was summoned to sign his name for the first timeto an official document.
"There is no calculating the effect such a thing must produce on theboy," said Eric to the Major, who was standing by.
"It will do him no harm," replied the Major; "his heart is sound, andFraeulein Milch says, 'A young heart and a young stomach are quickdigesters.'"
Fraeulein Milch was mistaken this time, for at sight of Clans brought inin chains, Roland uttered a cry of distress.
A new scent was presently started. The groom, who had been in Pranken'spay as a spy, and afterwards dismissed by Sonnenkamp, had, within thelast few days, been seen and recognized in the neighborhood, though hehad taken great pains to disguise himself. Telegrams were immediatelydespatched in all directions for the arrest of the supposed thief, andalso to Sonnenkamp.
The priest came, lamented what had happened, using a noble charity inspeaking of the disaster, and begged Eric not to lay it too much toheart, because, devoted as he had been to learning and science, hecould naturally have no proper knowledge of the wickedness of hisfellow-men, and had naturally allowed himself to be taken unawares byit.
Eric was more humbled in spirit than the priest thought reasonable. Heremembered having once said, that the man who consecrates himself to anidea must renounce all else; and now he was humiliated by standing inthe presence of one who, in his way, acted up to this sentiment, whilehe himself had allowed the excitement of mental dissipation to drag himdown from his high standard.
The priest repeated, that is all our plans we should take into accountthe wickedness of mankind; and Eric, who hardly knew what answer tomake, assured him that he was well aware of the necessity, havingvoluntarily passed some time in a House of Correction, for the sake ofrestoring guilty men to their better selves. Neither Eric nor thepriest, who praised him, noticed the effect which this confessionproduced upon Roland. He was, then, in the hands of a man who had triedto counsel criminals, who had lived in a House of Correction! A fearand repugnance took possession of the boy's soul. Eric's motive wasforgotten; Roland seemed to himself humiliated. He sat a long timesilently buried in thought,
The priest approached him at last, and admonished him not to let thisaccident dishearten him, but only let it teach him not to place histrust in the treasures of this world, particularly in his ownpossessions; neither to have that so-called faith in humanity, which isa deceitful faith, exposed to daily shocks; for there was but one sureand abiding faith, that in God, the supreme being, eternal andunchanging, who never deceives.
Roland remained silent and absorbed for some time after he and Ericwere left alone; finally he asked:--
"Does my father know what you once were?"
"Yes."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"Why? I had no reason for concealing it from you, or for telling you."
The boy again covered his face with his hands, and Eric, feeling thatthe course he was here called upon to defend was one undertaken fromthe purest motives, while within him he was conscious of a guilt whichnone but himself could upbraid him with, explained to Roland how he hadfelt it his duty to devote himself to the most unhappy. He spoke sotouchingly that the boy suddenly raised his head, and, holding out hishand to him, exclaimed in a tone of the deepest feeling:--
"Forgive me! Ah, you are better than all."
The words smote Eric to the soul.
The officers of the law had left the villa, and even Pranken had riddenaway. Roland went about the house, looking fearfully behind him, as ifhe had seen a ghost, an evil spirit. The stairs had been trodden bywicked men, the doors had been tried by their instruments; the houseand all its treasures had been desecrated; he had lost pleasure notonly in the things which had been plundered, but still more in thosewhich could not be taken, which the thieves had been obliged to leave.
He begged Eric not to leave him for a moment, so great was his fear. Atnight he was unwilling to go to bed; rest seemed impossible to him in aplace where the hands of robbers had taken the pillows from his bed.Eric yielded to his entreaties that he would remain by him, and said,after Roland had finally gone to bed,--
"I owe you an answer to your question,--What would Franklin have saidto this robbery? I think I know. He would have had no compassion on thethieves; he would have given them up to the full penalty of the law;but at the same time he would have maintained, that the wickedness ofindividuals should not be allowed to rob us of our faith in humanity;for if thieves could inflict that loss upon us, they would be robbingus of more than hands can touch."
Roland nodded assent. Long after he had fallen asleep, Eric stood bythe bedside, thoughtfully watching the boy, who had had to learn thislesson thus early,--Of what use is all this subtle study; of whatadvantage any conscious training? An invisible, irresistible power, thegreat current of life's experience, educates a man far more than asingle human teacher can do, and in a different way.
Long did Eric stand at the window, gazing out upon the river and thevine-covered hills. We all work according to the strength that is inus; the result of our labors lies not in our hands, but in the controlof that invisible, all-embracing power whose origin we know not, andwhich we can only call God.
Eric was deeply moved. This event could not afflict his young charge sodeeply as it did him, for he was conscious of a power mightier than anyeffort of his own thoughts, drawing him back from the edge of an abyss.He looked into the future, and a fixed resolve was formed within him.
He was summoned away by a messenger from the officer who had conductedthe examination, bringing a telegram from Sonnenkamp. It ran thus:--
"Journey to sea-shore given up; coming home; shall find thieves, underwhatever title."
BOOK VI.