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diff --git a/23054-8.txt b/23054-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..902847d --- /dev/null +++ b/23054-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1092 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dean's Watch, by Erckmann-Chatrian + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dean's Watch + 1897 + +Author: Erckmann-Chatrian + +Translator: Ralph Browning Fiske + +Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAN'S WATCH *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE DEAN'S WATCH + +By Erckmann-Chatrian + +Translated by Ralph Browning Fiske + +Copyright, 1897, by The Current Literature Publishing Company + + + + +I + +On the day before Christmas of the year 1832, my friend Wilfred, with +his double-bass slung over his back, and I, with my violin under my arm, +started to walk from the Black Forest to Heidelberg. It was unusually +snowy weather; as far as we could see across the great, deserted plain, +there was no trace of road nor path. The wind kept up its harsh aria +with monotonous persistency, and Wilfred, with his flattened wallet at +his belt, and the vizor of his cap drawn over his eyes, moved on before +me, straddling the drifts with his long, heron legs, and whistling a gay +tune to keep up his spirits. Now and then, he would turn around with a +waggish smile, and cry: "Comrade, let's have the waltz from 'Robin,' I +feel like dancing." A burst of laughter followed these words, and then +the good fellow would resume his march courageously. I followed on +as well as I could, up to my knees in snow, and I felt a sense of +melancholy take possession of me. + +The spires of Heidelberg began to appear on the extreme horizon, and we +hoped to reach there before nightfall. It was then about five o'clock in +the afternoon, and great flakes of snow were whirling through the gray +atmosphere. Suddenly we heard the sound of a horse approaching from +behind us. When the rider was within twenty yards of us, he moderated +his speed, studying us meanwhile with a sidelong glance. We returned his +gaze. + +Picture to yourself a large man, with reddish hair and beard, in a +three-cornered hat and loose fox-skin pelisse; his arms buried to the +elbows in fur gloves. He carried a handsome valise behind him, resting +on the haunches of his powerful stallion. He was evidently some alderman +or burgomaster or personage of like importance. + +"Ho! Ho! my good fellows!" he cried; "you are on your way to Heidelberg +to perform, I see." Wilfred surveyed the traveler from the corner of his +eye, and replied briefly: "Is that of any interest to you, sir?" +"Yes, for in that case I wish to give you a bit of advice." "Advice?" +"Precisely; if you wish it." Wilfred started on without replying. I +noticed that the traveler's appearance was like that of an enormous cat; +his ears wide apart, his eyelids half closed, with a bristling mustache, +and a fatherly, almost caressing manner. "My friend," he continued, +addressing himself to me, "frankly, you will do well to retrace your +steps." "Why so, sir?" "The great Maestro Pimenti has just now announced +a concert to take place at Heidelberg on Christmas day. The entire city +will be there, and you will not earn a kreutzer." At this point, Wilfred +turned around ill-humoredly: "We care not a sou for your Maestro nor all +the Pimentis in Christendom," he said; "look at this young fellow here, +without even the sign of a beard on his chin! He has never yet played +outside of the ale-houses of the Black Forest, for the woodcutters and +charcoal-women to dance; and yet this boy, with his long yellow curls +and big blue eyes, defies all your Italian impostors. His left hand is +possessed of inimitable melody, grace, and suppleness, and his right of +a power to draw the bow, that the Almighty rarely accords us mortals." + +"Oh! ho! Indeed!" returned the other. "It is just as I tell you," +Wilfred replied, and he resumed his pace, blowing on his fingers that +were red with the cold, I saw that he was ridiculing the horseman, who +continued to follow us at an easy trot. We continued thus for a full +half mile in silence. Suddenly the stranger said to us abruptly: +"Whatever skill you may possess, go back to the Black Forest; we have +vagabonds enough in Heidelberg without you to increase the number. I +give you good advice, particularly under the existing circumstances; you +will do well to profit by it." + +Wilfred, now thoroughly out of patience, was about to reply, but the +traveler, urging his horse into a gallop, had already crossed the broad +Avenue d'Electeur. An immense flock of crows flew up from the plain and +seemed to be following him, filling the heavens with their cawing. +We reached Heidelberg at about seven o'clock, and we did indeed see +Pimenti's magnificent posters on all the walls of the city, which read: +"Grand Concert Solo." + +That same evening in visiting the various inns, we met many old comrades +from the Black Forest, who engaged us to play in their troupe. There +was old Bremer, the 'cellist, his two sons, Ludwig and Karl, both good +second violins; Heinrich Siebel, the clarionet player, and Bertha with +her harp; Wilfred with his double-bass and I with my violin made up the +number. We agreed to travel together after the Christmas concert and +divide the proceeds among us. Wilfred had already hired a room for +us both on the sixth floor of the Pied de Mouton Tavern, which stood +halfway down the Holdergasse, and for it he was to pay four kreutzers +a day. Properly speaking, it was nothing but a garret, but fortunately +there was a stove in it, and we lighted a fire to dry ourselves. + +As we were comfortably seated, toasting chestnuts over the fire and +enjoying a jug of wine, little Annette, the housemaid, appeared in a +black calico dress and velvet turban, with rosy cheeks and lips like a +cluster of cherries. She came running up the stairs, gave a hasty knock +and threw herself joyfully into my arms. I had known the pretty little +girl for a long time; we were of the same village, and if truth must be +told, her sparkling eyes and frolicsome ways had quite won my heart. +"I came up to have a little talk with you," she said, dropping into a +chair. "I saw you come up a moment ago and here I am." + +She began to chatter away, asking for this one or that one of the +village and hardly giving me time to reply. Every now and then she +would pause and look at me with the greatest tenderness. We might have +continued thus until the next morning had not Dame Grédel Dick begun +to call from the foot of the stairs: "Annette! Annette! Are you never +coming?" "Right away, ma'am!" answered the poor child reluctantly. She +tapped me lightly on the cheek and ran toward the door; but just as +she was crossing the threshold, she suddenly stopped. "By the way," she +cried, "I was forgetting to tell you; but perhaps you have heard about +it?" "About what?" "The death of our precentor, Zahn." "But how does +that, affect us?" "To be sure; only see that your passport is all +right Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock they will come to examine it. +Everybody is being arrested in the last fortnight. The precentor was +assassinated last night in the library of Saint Christopher's Chapel, +and only a week ago, old Ulmet Elias, the sacrificer, was similarly +murdered in the Rue des Juifs. Some days before that Christina Haas, the +old midwife, was also killed, as well as the agate dealer Seligmann of +the Rue Durlach. So look out for yourself, dear Kasper, and see that +your passport is all right." + +While she was speaking, Dame Grédel's voice came again from below: +"Annette! will you come here? The good-for-nothing child, leaving me to +do all the work!" + +And the sound of men's voices calling for wine, beer, ham, or sausages +mingled with her own. Further delay was out of the question. Annette +hastened down the stairs, crying as she went: "Goodness, ma'am! what has +happened? One would think that the house were afire!" Wilfred crossed +the room and closed the door behind her; then returning to his chair, we +looked at each other, not without a feeling of apprehension. + +"That is singular news," he said; "your passport is all right, I +suppose?" "Certainly," And I produced my papers. "Good! Mine is too, for +I had it made out just before leaving. But nevertheless, these murders +do not augur us any good. I am afraid we shall not be able to do much +business here; many of the families will be in mourning; and then, too, +the bother and pettifogging of the authorities." "Pshaw! you take too +gloomy a view of it," I replied. + +We continued to discuss these singular happenings until after midnight. +The glow from our little stove lighted up the angle of the roof, the +square window with its three cracked panes, the straw strewn about the +floor, the blackened beams propped against each other, and the little +firwood table that cast its uncertain shadow upon the worm-eaten +ceiling. From time to time, a mouse, enticed by the warmth, would dart +like an arrow along the wall. The wind howled in the chimney and whirled +the snow about the gutters. I was dreaming of Annette; the silence was +complete. Suddenly Wilfred exclaimed, throwing off his jacket: "It is +time for sleep. Put another stick on the fire and we will go to bed!" +"We can't do better than that," I replied. So saying, I drew off +my boots, and a moment later we stretched out on the straw with the +coverlid tucked under our chins and a log under our heads for a pillow. +Wilfred lost no time in getting to sleep. The light from the stove +flickered and trembled; the wind redoubled its force outside, and as +I lay thus with a sense of perfect contentment, I, too, dozed off. At +about two o'clock in the morning I was awakened by a strange noise. +I thought at first that it was a cat running along the gutter, but, +putting my ear to the wall, my uncertainty was at once dispelled; +somebody was walking on the roof. I nudged Wilfred. "Sh!" he whispered, +pressing my hand; he had heard it, too. The firelight was casting its +last shadows on the decrepit walls. I was considering whether I would +get up or not, when the little window, held only by a bit of brick, +slowly opened. A pale face with shining eyes, red hair, and quivering +cheeks appeared in the opening and gazed into the interior of the +chamber. Our fear was so great that we hadn't strength left to cry out. +At length the man glided through the sash and let himself down into the +loft without a sound. The man, short and thick-set, the muscles of his +face contracted like a tiger about to spring, was none other than +the ingenuous person who had volunteered his advice on the road to +Heidelberg. But how different he seemed to us now! In spite of the +bitter cold, he was in his shirt sleeves, dressed only in a pair +of breeches, woolen stockings, and silver buckled shoes. A long, +blood-stained knife glittered in his hand. + +Wilfred and I thought our last hour had surely come. But he did not +appear to see us in the oblique shadow of the loft, notwithstanding that +the fire started up again in the cold draft from the open window. +He squatted down on a chair and began to shiver in a strange manner. +Suddenly he fixed his yellowish-green eyes upon me; his nostrils dilated +and he watched me for a full minute, while the blood froze in my veins. +Then turning toward the stove, he gave a hoarse cough, like the purring +of a cat, without moving a muscle of his face. He drew a large watch +from his breeches pocket, made a gesture as if looking at the time, and +either inadvertently or purposely laid it on the table. This done, he +rose as if undecided, looked doubtfully at the window, hesitated, and +finally disappeared through the door, leaving it wide open behind him. +I sprang up to turn the lock; already the man's footsteps creaked on the +staircase two floors below. An irresistible curiosity asserted itself +over my fear, and hearing a window open, which looked upon the court, I +approached the sash of the little winding staircase on the same side of +the house. The courtyard, from where I stood, lay at a dizzy depth, and +a wall from fifty to sixty feet high divided it. On the right of the +wall was the yard of a pork butcher; on the left, the inn yard of the +Pied de Mouton. The top of this wall, which was overgrown with damp +mosses and that sort of vegetation that thrives in dark places, extended +in a straight line from the window, which the man had just opened, to +the roof of a large, sombre-looking dwelling, built in the rear of the +Bergstrasse. I took all this in at a glance while the moon shone between +the heavy, snow-laden clouds, and I shuddered as I saw the man flee +along the wall, his head bent forward and the knife still in his hand, +while the wind howled lugubriously around him. He reached the opposite +roof and disappeared. I thought I must be dreaming. For some moments I +stood there, open-mouthed with wonder, my breast bare, and hair +tossed about, drenched by the sleet that fell from the roof. At length +recovering from my bewilderment, I returned to the loft and found +Wilfred, who looked at me with a haggard expression and was mumbling +a prayer. I hastened to bolt the door, dress myself, and replenish the +fire. + +"Well," said my comrade, sitting up. "Well," I rejoined, "we have +escaped this time, but if that fellow didn't see us, it was only because +our time has not yet come." "You are right!" he cried. "He is one of +the murderers Annette spoke of. Great Heavens! What a face! And what a +knife!" And he fell back on the straw. + +I emptied at a draft what wine still remained in the jug, and then, +as the fire started up again, diffusing a grateful warmth through the +chamber, and the lock appeared sufficiently strong, my courage began to +revive. But the watch was still there and the man might return for it. +The thought filled us with horror. + +"Well, what is our next move?" asked Wilfred. "The best thing we can +do is to strike out at once for the Black Forest." "Why so?" "I have no +further desire to figure on the double-bass; you may do as you like." +"Why should we leave? We have committed no crime." "Speak low!" he +replied, "that one word 'crime' might hang us. We poor devils are made +to serve as examples for others. They don't bother their heads much +to find out whether we are guilty or not. If they should discover that +watch here, it would be enough." "Look here, Wilfred! It won't do +to lose your head! A crime has undoubtedly been committed in this +neighborhood, but what should honest men do under the circumstances? +Instead of running away from Justice, they should try to aid it." "How +aid it?" "The simplest way would be to take this watch to the bailiff +and tell him what has passed." "Never! I wouldn't even dare to touch +it!" "Very well, I will take it myself, but now let's go back to bed and +try to get some more sleep if we can." "I don't care to sleep." "Well, +light your pipe, then, and we will talk while we wait for daylight. +Let's go downstairs, there may be some one there still." "I would rather +stay here." "All right." And we sat down again before the fire. + +As soon as dawn appeared, I took the watch from the table. It was a fine +one with minute and second hands. Wilfred seemed somewhat reassured. +"Kasper," he said, "on second thoughts, it seems more suitable for me to +go to the bailiff. You are too young to take part in such matters. You +would make a mess of it when you tried to explain the affair." "Just as +you like," I replied. "Yes, it would look odd for a man of my years to +send a mere child in my place." "Very good; I understand." + +He took the watch, but I believe that only his pride drove him to this +resolution. He would have been ashamed to show less courage than I +before his comrades. We went down from the loft in a thoughtful mood. As +we crossed the alleyway that comes out on the Rue Saint Christopher, we +heard the clicking of glasses. I recognized the voice of old Bremer and +his sons, Ludwig and Karl. "By Jove," said I, "it wouldn't be a bad idea +to take a glass before we start." I pushed open the door of the +tap-room as I spoke, and we found all our company gathered there, their +instruments variously deposited about the room. We were received with +shouts of satisfaction and places were quickly made for us at the table. +"Ho! Good morning, comrades," said Bremer; "more snow and wind. All +the taverns are full of people, and every bottle that is opened means a +florin in our pockets." I saw little Annette looking as fresh and fair +as a rose, and smiling fondly at me with her lips and eyes. This sight +reanimated me. It was I who got the daintiest morsels, and whenever +she approached to set a glass of wine at my elbow, she touched me +caressingly on the shoulder, and I thought, with a beating heart, of the +days when we used to go chestnutting together. But in spite of this, the +pale face of our strange visitor of the night before recurred to me from +time to time, and made me tremble. I looked at Wilfred; he, too, seemed +thoughtful. + +Eight o'clock came and our party was about to start out, when the door +was thrown open, and three big fellows, with lead-colored complexions, +their eyes shining like rats, and their hats awry, appeared on the +threshold, followed by several others of a like description. One of +them, with a razor-back nose, and with a heavy club bound to his wrist, +stepped forward, crying: "Your passports, gentlemen!" Each one hastened +to comply with the request. Unfortunately, Wilfred, who stood near the +stove, was seized with a sudden trembling. The officer's experienced eye +detected his agitation, and as he paused in his reading to give him a +questioning look, my comrade conceived the unlucky idea of slipping +the watch into his boot; but before it had reached its destination, the +official slapped his hand against the other's hip, and said jeeringly: +"Something seems to trouble you here." To everybody's amazement, Wilfred +was seized with a fainting spell and dropped upon a bench pale as death. +Without further ceremony, Madoc, the Chief of Police, pulled up his +trousers' leg and drew out the watch with a burst of evil laughter. He +had no sooner glanced at it, however, than he became sober, and, turning +to his men, he cried in a terrible voice: "Let no one leave the room! +We have caught the whole band at last! Look! this is the watch of Dean +Daniel Van den Berg. Bring hither the handcuffs!" This order chilled us +to the marrow. A tumult followed, and I, believing that we were lost, +slid under a bench near the wall. As I was watching them chain the hands +of poor old Bremer and his sons, Karl and Ludwig, together with Heinrich +and Wilfred, I felt Annette's little hand brush against my cheek and +she drew me gently toward her--slowly and quietly toward the open cellar +door. I was unnoticed in the general confusion; I slipped within; the +door closed behind me. It was but the matter of a second. Scarcely had +I concealed myself, before I heard my poor comrades depart; then all +became silent. + +I will leave you to imagine the nature of my reflections during an +entire day, crouched down behind a wine cask with my legs gathered under +me, and realizing that if a dog should enter the cellar, if the landlady +should take the notion to come downstairs to fill a pitcher, if the cask +should run out before night and were to be replaced; in short, if +the slightest thing went amiss, it would be all up with me. All these +thoughts and a thousand others passed through my mind, and I fancied +that I already saw my comrades being led to execution. Little Annette, +no less anxious than myself, closed the door prudently each time that +she came up from the cellar. At last, I heard the old woman cry: "Leave +the door open! Are you mad to lose half your time in shutting it?" After +that the door remained ajar, and from my nook in the shadows I could see +the tables gradually filling with new customers. + +Stories, discussions, and exclamations concerning the famous band of +robbers reached my ears. "Oh! the rascals!" cried one; "thank Heaven +they are caught. What a scourge they have been to Heidelberg! No one +dared risk himself in the streets after ten o'clock, and even business +was beginning to suffer; but now things are changed and in a fortnight +it will all be forgotten." + +"Those musicians of the Black Forest are a lot of bandits!" chimed in +another; "they make their way into the houses under pretext of playing, +and meanwhile they are examining the locks, bolts, chests, and windows, +and some fine morning we hear that such a one has had his throat cut in +his bed; that his wife has been murdered, his children strangled, and +his house rifled from top to bottom. The wretches should be strung up +without mercy! Then we might have some peace." "The whole village will +turn out to see them hanged," said Mother Grédel, "and as for me, it +will be the happiest day of my life." "Do you know, if it hadn't been +for Dean Daniel's watch, no trace of them would have been found. Last +night the watch disappeared, and this morning the Dean notified the +police. An hour later, Madoc bagged them all! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The entire +roomful burst out laughing, and I trembled with shame, indignation, and +fear in turn. + +Meanwhile, the night drew on. Only a few loungers remained. The people +of the inn, who had sat up the night before, were anxious to get to bed. +I heard the landlady yawn and mutter: "Oh, dear! How long before we can +get some sleep?" Most of the tipplers comprehended the force of this +remark and withdrew; only one remained, sitting half asleep before +his glass. The watchman, going his rounds, woke him up and he went off +grumbling and staggering. + +"At last!" I said to myself; "this is good luck; Mother Grédel has +gone to bed and Annette will not be slow in getting me out." With this +agreeable prospect in view, I had already stretched out my stiffened +limbs, when Dame Grédel's voice reached my ear: "Annette, go and lock +up, and don't forget to bolt the door! I am going down cellar." It +appeared that this was a wise custom of hers to assure herself that +everything was right. "But, madame," stammered the girl, "the cask isn't +empty. You needn't bother to--" "Mind your own business," interrupted +the mistress, whose candle was already lighting up the passageway. I +had barely time to squat down again behind the cask, when the old woman, +stooping beneath the low, dingy ceiling, passed from one keg to another, +mumbling as she went: "Oh! the little wretch. How she lets the wine +leak. I'll teach her to close the spigots tighter; did ever any one +see the like?" The candle threw great shadows against the damp wall. I +huddled closer and closer. Suddenly, just as I thought the visit happily +ended, and was beginning to breathe easier again, I heard the old +creature give a sigh so long and so full of woe that I knew something +unusual was happening. I risked just the least glance, and I saw Dame +Grédel Dick, her under jaw dropped and her eyes sticking out of her +head, staring at the bottom of the barrel behind which I lay. She had +caught sight of one of my feet underneath the joist that served as +a wedge to keep the cask in place. She evidently believed she had +discovered the chief of the robbers concealed there for the purpose of +strangling her during the night. I formed a sudden resolution. "Madame, +for God's sake, have pity on me!" I cried: "I am--" Without looking at +me, or listening to a word I said, she set up an ear-splitting shriek +and started up the stairs as quickly as her great weight would permit. +Seized with inexpressible terror, I clung to her skirt and went down on +my knees. This only made matters worse. "Help! seize the assassin! Oh, +my God! release me! Take my money! Oh! Oh!" + +It was horrible. In vain did I cry: "Only look at me, my dear madame; I +am not what you think me!" She was beside herself with fear; she raved +and screamed in such piercing tones that had we not been underground, +the whole neighborhood would inevitably have been aroused. In this +extremity, consulting only my rage, I overturned her, and gaining the +door before her, I slammed it in her face, taking care to slip the bolt. +During the struggle the candle had been extinguished and Dame Grédel +was left in the dark. Her cries grew fainter and fainter. I stared +at Annette, giddy, and with hardly strength enough left to stand. Her +agitation equaled mine. We neither of us seemed able to speak, and +stood listening to the expiring cries of the mistress, which soon ceased +altogether. The poor woman had fainted. + +"Oh! Kasper," cried Annette, wringing her hands, "what is to be done? +Fly! fly! You may have been heard! Did you kill her?" "Kill her? I?" "I +am so glad! But fly! I will open the door for you." She unbarred it, and +I fled into the street, without stopping even to thank her; but I was so +terrified and there was not a moment to lose. The night was inky black; +not a star in the sky, and the street lamps unlighted. The weather was +abominable; it was snowing hard and the wind howled dismally. Not until +I had run for a good half-hour did I stop to take breath. Imagine my +horror when I found myself directly opposite the Pied de Mouton Tavern. +In my terror I had run around the square a dozen times for aught I knew. +My legs felt like lead and my knees tottered under me. + +The inn, but a moment before deserted, swarmed like a bee-hive, and +lights danced about from window to window. It was evidently filled with +the police. And now, at my wits' end, desperate, exhausted with cold +and hunger, and not knowing where to find refuge, I resolved upon the +strangest possible course. "By Jove," I said to myself, "as well be +hanged as leave my bones on the road to the Black Forest." And I walked +into the tavern with the intention of giving myself up to the officials. +Besides the fellows with their cocked hats tilted rakishly over their +ears, and the clubs fastened to their wrists, whom I had already seen +in the morning, and who were now running here and there, and turning +everything upside down, there was the bailiff, Zimmer, standing before +one of the tables, dressed in black, with a grave air and penetrating +glance, and near him the secretary Roth, with his red wig, imposing +countenance, and large ears, flat as oyster shells. They paid no +attention to my entrance, and this circumstance altered my resolution at +once. I sat down in a corner of the room behind the big cast-iron stove, +in company with two or three of the neighbors, who had run hither to +see what was going on, and I ordered a pint of wine and a dish of +sauerkraut. Annette came near betraying me. "Goodness!" she cried, "is +it possible!" But one exclamation, more or less, in such a babel of +voices possessed but little significance. It passed unnoticed, and, +while I ate with a ravenous appetite, I listened to the examination to +which Dame Grédel was subjected as she lay back in a large armchair, her +hair falling down and her eyes bulged out with fright. "How old did the +man appear to be?" asked the bailiff. "Between forty and fifty, sir. He +was an enormous man with black side whiskers, or maybe brown, I don't +exactly remember, with a long nose and green eyes." "Did he have any +birthmark or scars?" "I don't remember any. He only had a big hammer and +pistols." "Very good! And what did he say to you?" "He seized me by +the throat, but fortunately I screamed so loud it frightened him, and I +defended myself with my finger-nails. When any one tries to murder +you, you fight hard for your life, sir." "Nothing is more natural or +legitimate, madame. Take this down, Roth! The coolness of this good +woman is remarkable." The rest of the deposition was in the same strain. +They questioned Annette afterward, but she testified to having been so +frightened that she could remember nothing. + +"That will do," said the bailiff; "if we need anything further, we will +return to-morrow morning." Everybody withdrew, and I asked Dame Grédel +for a room for the night. So great had been her fear that she had not +the slightest recollection of having seen me before. "Annette," said +she, "Show the gentleman to the little room on the third floor. I can +not stand on my legs. Oh! dear! what trials we have to bear in this +world." She began to weep. + +Annette, having lighted a candle, led me up to the little chamber, +and when we found ourselves alone, she cried innocently: "Oh! Kasper, +Kasper! Who would have believed that you were one of the band! I can +never console myself for having loved a robber!" "What! you, too, +believe us guilty, Annette?" I exclaimed despairingly, dropping into a +chair; "that is the last straw on the camel's back." "No! no! you can +not be. You are too much of a gentleman, dear Kasper! And you were so +brave to come back." I explained to her that I was perishing with cold +and hunger, and that that was the only consideration which led me to +return. + +We were left to ourselves for some time; then Annette departed, lest she +should arouse Madame Grédel's suspicions. Left to myself, after having +ascertained that the windows were not approached by any wall, and that +the sashes were securely fastened, I thanked God that I had thus far +been brought safely through the perils which surrounded me, and then +going to bed, I was soon fast asleep. + + + + +II + +I got up at about eight o'clock the next morning. It was foggy and dark. +As I drew aside the hangings of the bed, I noticed that the snow was +drifted on a level with the windows; the sashes were all white. I began +to reflect upon the sad condition of my companions; they must have +suffered with the cold, particularly old Bremer and Bertha, and the idea +filled me with sorrow. As I was reflecting thus, a strange noise arose +outside. It drew near the inn, and I sprang anxiously to the window to +see if some new dangers were threatening. They were bringing the +famous band of robbers to confront Dame Grédel Dick, who was not yet +sufficiently recovered from her fright to venture out of doors. My +poor comrades came down the street between a double file of police, +and followed by a crowd of street urchins, who screamed and yelled like +savages. It seems to me that I can still see that terrible scene; poor +Bremer chained between his sons, Ludwig and Karl, Wilfred behind them, +and Bertha bringing up the rear and crying piteously: "In the name of +Heaven, my masters, have pity on a poor, innocent harpist! I kill? I +steal? O God! can it be?" She wrung her hands distractedly. The others +proceeded with bowed heads, their hair falling over their faces. + +The crowd swarmed into the dark alleyway of the inn. The guards drove +back the rabble, and the door was closed and barred. The eager crowd +remained outside, standing ankle-deep in slush, with their noses +flattened against the panes. A profound silence settled upon the house. +Having by this time got into my clothes, I opened the door part way to +listen, and see if it would be possible to escape from my unpleasant +quarters. I heard the sound of voices and of people moving about on +the lower floors, which convinced me that the passages were strongly +guarded. My door opened on the landing, directly opposite the window +through which the man had fled two nights before. I did not pay any +attention to this circumstance at first, but as I stood there I suddenly +noticed that the window was open, and that there was no snow on the +sill; approaching it, I saw fresh tracks along the wall. I shuddered. +The man must have returned last night; perhaps visited the inn every +night. It was a revelation to me, and at once the mystery began to clear +up. + +"Oh! if it were only true," I said to myself, "that fortune had placed +the murderer's fate in my hands, my unhappy fellows would be saved!" +And I followed with my eyes the footprints, which led with surprising +distinctness to the opposite roof. At this moment some words fell on +my ear. The door of the dining hall had just been opened to let in the +fresh air, and I heard the following conversation: "Do you recall having +taken part in the murder of Ulmet Elias on the twentieth of this month?" +Some unintelligible words followed. "Close the door, Madoc!" said the +bailiff; "the woman is ill." I heard no more. As I stood with my head +resting against the balusters, a sudden resolution seized me. "I can +save my comrades!" I exclaimed; "God has pointed out to me the means, +and if I fail to do my duty, their blood will be upon my head. My +self-respect and peace of mind will be forever lost, and I shall +consider myself the most cowardly of wretches." It took me some time, +however, to summon up resolution enough. Then I went downstairs and +entered the dining-room. + +"Did you ever see this watch before?" the bailiff was saying to Dame +Grédel. "Do your best to remember!" Without waiting for her answer, I +stepped forward and replied firmly: "That watch, bailiff? I have seen it +before in the hands of the murderer himself. I recognize it perfectly, +and if you will only listen to me, I will agree to deliver the man +into your hands this very night." Perfect stillness followed my bold +declaration. + +The officials stared at each other, dumfounded; my comrades seemed to +cheer up a bit. "I am the companion of these unfortunate people," I +continued, "and I say it without shame, for every one of them is +honest, even if he is poor, and there is not one among them capable of +committing the crimes imputed to him." + +Again silence followed. Dame Bertha began to weep quietly. At last the +bailiff aroused himself. Looking at me sharply, he said: "Where do you +pretend to deliver the assassin into our hands?" "Right here in this +very house! And to convince you of it, I only ask for a moment's private +conversation." "Let us hear what you have to say," he replied, rising. +He motioned Madoc to follow us; the others remained. We left the room. I +went hastily up the stairs, with the others at my heels. Pausing at the +window on the third floor, I showed them the man's footprints in the +snow. "Those are the murderer's tracks!" I said; "he visits this house +every night. Yesterday he came at two in the morning; last night he +returned, and he will undoubtedly be back again this evening." + +The bailiff and Madoc examined the footprints without a word. "How +do you know that these are the murderer's tracks?" asked the chief of +police, doubtfully. Thereupon I told him of the man's appearance in our +loft. I pointed out to them the little window above us through which I +had watched him as he fled in the moonlight, and which Wilfred had not +seen, as he remained in bed. I admitted that it was mere chance that had +led me to the discovery of the tracks made the night before. + +"It is strange!" muttered the bailiff; "this greatly modifies the +position of the accused. But how do you explain the presence of the +robber in the cellar?" "That robber was myself." I now related briefly +everything that had taken place from the time of my comrades' arrest +until the moment of my flight from the inn. "That will do," said the +bailiff; and, turning toward the chief of police, he added: "I must +admit, Madoc, that the depositions of these musicians never seemed to me +very conclusive of their guilt; moreover, their passports established an +alibi difficult to controvert. Nevertheless, young man," turning to me, +"in spite of the plausibility of the proofs you have given us, you must +remain in our power until they are verified. Keep him in sight, Madoc, +and take your measures accordingly." The bailiff descended the stairs +thoughtfully, and, refolding his papers, he said, without continuing the +examination: "Let the accused be taken back to the prison!" And with a +scornful glance at the landlady, he departed, followed by the secretary. +Madoc alone remained with two officials. + +"Madame," he said to Dame Grédel, "maintain the strictest secrecy +about what has happened, and give this brave young man the same room he +occupied night before last." Madoc's look and emphasis admitted of no +reply. Dame Grédel swore she would do whatever was required of her if +she could only be rid of the robbers! Madoc replied: "We shall stay here +all day and to-night to protect you. Go about your work in peace, and +begin by giving us some breakfast. My good fellow, you will give us the +pleasure of dining with us?" My situation did not permit me to decline. +I accepted accordingly, and we soon found ourselves seated before a leg +of ham and a jug of Rhine wine. Other people arrived from time to time, +and endeavored to elicit the confidence of Dame Grédel and Annette, but +they maintained a discreet silence, for which they deserve no little +credit. We spent the afternoon smoking our pipes and emptying our mugs; +no one paid any attention to us. + +The chief of police, in spite of his sallow face, piercing glance, pale +lips, and sharp nose, was excellent company after a bottle or two; he +told us some excellent stories, and at every word of his the other two +burst out laughing. I remained gloomy and silent. "Come, young fellow!" +he said with a smile, "forget for a little the death of your respectable +grandmother. Take a drop, and put your troublesome thoughts to flight." + +Others joined in the conversation, and the time passed in the midst of +tobacco smoke, the clinking of glasses, and the ringing of mugs. But +at nine o'clock, after the watchman's visit, the expression of things +changed. Madoc rose and said: "Well, my friends, let us proceed to +business. Fasten the doors and shutters quietly! You, ladies, may go +to bed!" His two tattered followers looked more like robbers themselves +than like props of law and order. Each drew a club with a knob of lead +attached to one end, from his trousers' leg, and Madoc tapped his breast +pocket to make sure that his pistol was there. This done, he bid me lead +them to the loft. We climbed the stairs. Having reached the little room, +where thoughtful little Annette had taken care to light a fire, Madoc, +cursing between his teeth, hastened to throw water on the coals; then +motioning to the pile of straw, he said to me: "You may go to sleep if +you like." + +He sat down, together with his two acolytes, at the end of the room +close to the wall, and they put out the light. I lay down on the straw, +breathing a prayer to the Almighty to send hither the assassin. After +midnight the silence became so profound that you would never have +suspected three men were there with wide-open eyes, on the alert for +the slightest sound. The hours wore slowly away. I could not sleep. +A thousand terrible ideas teemed in my brain. One o'clock--two +o'clock--three o'clock struck, and nothing appeared. At three o'clock +one of the officials stirred slightly. I thought the man had come at +last. But again all was still. I began to think that Madoc would take +me for an impostor, and that in the morning things would fare badly with +me; thus, instead of helping my companions, I should only be fettered +with them. + +The time seemed to me to pass very rapidly after three o'clock. I wished +the night might last forever, that the only ray of hope might not be +gone. I was starting to go over all these thoughts for the fiftieth +time, when, suddenly, without my having heard a sound, the window opened +and two eyes glistened in the opening. Nothing stirred in the loft. +"The others are asleep," I thought. The head remained in the opening, +listening. The wretch seemed to suspect something. My heart galloped +and the blood coursed through my veins. I dared not even breathe. A few +moments passed thus. Then, suddenly, the man seemed to make up his +mind. He let himself down into the loft with the same caution as on +the preceding night. On the instant a terrible cry, short, piercing, +blood-curdling, resounded through the house. "We've got him!" + +The whole house shook from cellar to attic; cries, struggles, and hoarse +shouts, coupled with muttered oaths, filled the loft. The man roared +like, a wild beast, and his opponents breathed painfully as they +battled with his terrible strength. Then there was a crash that made the +flooring creak, and I heard nothing more but a gritting of teeth and a +rattle of chains. "A light here!" cried the formidable Madoc. And as the +sulphur burned, illuminating the place with its bluish light, I vaguely +distinguished the forms of the three officials kneeling above the +prostrate man. One of them was holding him by the throat, another had +sunk his knees into his chest, and Madoc encircled his wrists with +handcuffs hard enough to crush them. The man, in his shirt sleeves as +before, seemed inert, save that one of his powerful legs, naked from the +knee to the ankle, raised up from time to time and struck the floor with +a convulsive movement. His eyes were literally starting from his head, +and his lips were covered with a bloody foam. Scarcely had I lighted the +taper when the officials exclaimed, thunderstruck: "Our Dean!" All three +got up and stood staring at each other, white with astonishment. The +bloodshot eyes of the murderer turned on Madoc. He tried to speak, and +after a moment I heard him murmur: "What a terrible dream! My God, what +a terrible dream!" Then he sighed and became motionless. + +I approached to take a look at him. It was indeed the man who had given +us advice on the road to Heidelberg. Perhaps he had had a presentiment +that we would be the means of his destruction, for people do sometimes +have these terrible borebodings. As he did not stir, and a tiny stream +of blood flowed on the dusty floor, Madoc, rousing himself from his +stupor, bent over him and tore away his shirt; we then saw that he +had stabbed himself to the heart with his great knife. "Ho! ho!" cried +Madoc, with a sinister smile, "our Dean has cheated the gallows. You +others stay here while I go and notify the bailiff." He picked up his +hat, that had fallen off during the mêlée, and left without another +word. I remained opposite the corpse, with the two others. + +The news spread like wildfire. It was a sensation for the neighborhood. +Dean Daniel Van den Berg enjoyed a fortune and a reputation so well +established that many people refused to believe in the abominable +instincts which dominated him. The matter was discussed from every +conceivable point of view. Some held that he was a somnambulist and +irresponsible for his acts; others that he was a murderer through love +of blood, having no other possible motive for committing these crimes. +Perhaps both were right, for it is an undeniable fact that moral being, +will, soul, whatever name you choose to call it by, is wanting in the +somnambulist. The animal nature left to itself naturally yields to the +dictates of its pacific or sanguinary instincts. Be that as it may, my +comrades were at once restored to liberty. Little Annette was quoted +for a long time after as a model of devotion. She was even sought in +marriage by the son of the burgomaster Trungott, a youth, who will one +day disgrace his family. + +As for me, I lost no time in returning to the Black Forest, where, since +that time I have officiated as leader of the orchestra at the Sabre Vert +Tavern, on the road to Tubingen. If you should ever happen to pass that +way, and my story has interested you, come in and see me. We will drink +a bottle or two together, and I will relate to you certain details that +will make your hair stand on end. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dean's Watch, by Erckmann-Chatrian + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAN'S WATCH *** + +***** This file should be named 23054-8.txt or 23054-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/5/23054/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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