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diff --git a/old/63599-0.txt b/old/63599-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 11ba92c..0000000 --- a/old/63599-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13144 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's When Thoughts Will Soar, by Baroness Bertha von Suttner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: When Thoughts Will Soar - A romance of the immediate future - -Author: Baroness Bertha von Suttner - -Translator: Nathan Haskell Dole - -Release Date: November 2, 2020 [EBook #63599] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR - _A Romance of the Immediate Future_ - - - BY - - BARONESS BERTHA VON SUTTNER - - Author of “Lay down your Arms” - - TRANSLATED BY - - NATHAN HASKELL DOLE - -[Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - - HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - - =The Riverside Press Cambridge= - - 1914 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - _Published June 1914_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PRELUDE 3 - I. FRANKA GARLETT 6 - II. CHLODWIG HELMER 31 - III. FRANKA’S NEW HOME 39 - IV. LIFE IN SIELENBURG CASTLE 46 - INTERMEZZO 63 - V. COUNT SIELEN’S WILL 68 - VI. A SECOND ANONYMOUS MESSAGE 82 - VII. FRANKA’S SALON 98 - VIII. THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PLAN 112 - IX. FRANKA’S DÉBUT AND CAREER 122 - X. AT LUCERNE 139 - XI. AN EVENING IN THE ROSE-PALACE 152 - XII. MR. TOKER’S ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS 165 - XIII. A LUNCHEON PARTY 177 - XIV. DREAMS OF LOVE 187 - XV. RINOTTI AND PRINCE VICTOR ADOLPH 198 - XVI. THE SIELENBURG PARTY 209 - XVII. THE OPENING NIGHT 218 - XVIII. FRANKA’S LECTURE 233 - XIX. YE YOUNG MAIDENS, LISTEN TO ME 243 - XX. ANOTHER LETTER FROM CHLODWIG HELMER 257 - XXI. NEW WONDERS 271 - XXII. CHLODWIG HELMER’S LECTURE: THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR 288 - XXIII. A COZY SUPPER 311 - XXIV. SUNDRY CONVERSATIONS 323 - XXV. SCENES OF BEAUTY AND OF LOVE 352 - XXVI. CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON 365 - XXVII. SPEECHES AND LETTERS 378 - XXVIII. A CORNUCOPIA FULL OF GIFTS 399 - XXIX. FRANKA DECIDES HER FATE 415 - FINALE 435 - - - - - WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR - - - - - PRELUDE - - -Mr. John A. Toker, the American multimillionaire, flung down his -newspaper in some excitement and became lost in thought. - -The paragraph that had so agitated him read:— - -“The sovereign expressed to Count Zeppelin his regret at being unable on -this occasion to see the airship which, he was convinced, was destined -to furnish the weapon of the heights in future wars.” - -For more than an hour the little old gentleman remained absorbed in his -reflections; then he seized pen and paper and made various notes. He was -evidently drafting a rather complicated plan. He now and again ran his -pen through what he had written and substituted other words. One sheet -was filled with a list of names—the names of distinguished -contemporaries; another with figures, apparently a schedule of estimated -expenses, in which the individual items for the most part had five or -six numerals. - -Even after an hour the plan was not as yet near completion, but Mr. -Toker was compelled to interrupt his labors in order to take up with -other demands of the day. One of his secretaries, who had made a careful -preliminary sifting of the letters and dispatches brought by the -morning’s mail, came with such as he had found important enough to be -called to his master’s attention. - -Mr. Toker dictated various answers. When this correspondence was cleared -away, a host of other affairs required his consideration:—business -connected with the management of his property; reports from the many -concerns in which he was interested; audiences with the foremen of his -enormous landed estate, his farmers and agents. Moreover, the guests at -the castle and the members of his family could not be neglected, and -sport and exercise were necessary to maintain his physical elasticity, -while for the satisfaction of his intellectual cravings reading in many -fields had to be provided for—indeed, the multimillionaire frequently -found it exasperating to realize that one man might be richer than -others in money, but not in time; one may have thousands of dollars to -spend every hour, but not more than sixteen waking hours to spend in a -day. - -“Money is a great help in accomplishing big things,” Mr. Toker used to -say with a sigh, “but mostly those things require much time, and in this -respect I feel that I am a very poor fellow.” - -Several weeks passed without the American Crœsus being able to proceed -with the elaboration of his project. But he carried round with him the -idea that lay at the foundation of it. In his mind one thought gave -birth to another; visions arose without any definite outlines; -suggestions flashed through his brain, but served only as reminders of -things that might later become clear. - -When he again took up the notes that he had made, he canceled several -names from the list and added new ones. It was a varied assortment of -from thirty to forty of his contemporaries: Björnson, Maurice -Maeterlinck, Eleanora Duse, Elihu Root, the American statesman; Madame -Curie, the discoverer of radium; Nansen, the Arctic explorer; Prince -Albert of Monaco, the oceanographic scientist; Tolstoï, Marconi, and -many great men from the scientific world, who had won distinction as -pathfinders in the domain of philosophy, sociology, history, and natural -science. - -He also went over the sheet with the numbers, and added a cipher in many -cases. Thus, for example, the item of “Roses,” which had been set down -at ten thousand francs, he increased to a hundred thousand. Moreover, -the word “roses” frequently appeared in his notes, and the thought of -those queenly flowers seemed especially to impress itself on his mind, -for the pencilings which he made on the edge of the paper, as he strove -to catch an idea, portrayed very clearly, even if inartistically, the -forms of roses and rosebuds. - -One sheet was filled with catchwords the meaning of which to one -uninitiated would have been scarcely comprehensible: as, for instance, -“Concentration and accumulation of forces. Motion through explosions. -Agglomeration of scattered atoms. Energy radiating in all directions. -Roses, roses ... the Power of Beauty. Subjugation of the forces of -Nature. High flying. Revelations. New lights, new tones, new thoughts, -moss roses....” - - - - - CHAPTER I - FRANKA GARLETT - - -A young girl stepped out of the gate of the Central Cemetery of Vienna. -For almost eight weeks she had been going there to lay a few flowers on -her father’s grave. That dearly beloved parent had been her only stay in -this world, and he had been so unexpectedly and prematurely snatched -away from her! Frank Garlett had reached only the age of forty-five. His -sudden death had resulted from an accident: he had fallen from the -running-board of a tram-car, had rolled under the wheels, and, severely -injured, had been brought to his dwelling by the Rescue Society, and -there a few hours later he had breathed his last in the arms of his -daughter, who was half-crazed with terror and grief. - -Franka walked slowly and wearily home from the cemetery. Her lodgings, -her empty, orphaned lodgings, were not far distant. Behind her, with -steps equally slow, strode a man who had caught sight of her at the -cemetery gate, and, dazzled by her brilliant youthful beauty, which -betrayed itself in spite of her paleness and the traces of tears, was -now following her for the purpose of discovering who she was. He was an -elderly man of distinguished appearance. - -As Franka entered the front door, he also paused there, but did not -venture to address her. He merely went to the porter’s door and rang the -bell. A buxom woman came out and greeted him:— - -“What is it you wish?” - -“I should like to make an inquiry; please allow me to come in.” - -The woman moved aside and allowed the stranger to pass in. He sat down -in an armchair, took out of his pocket his portemonnaie, and handed the -woman a ten-crown note. - -“Tell me, who the young lady is who just entered this house, dressed in -deep mourning. And give me all the information you can about her.” - -“Oh, she?... She’s a Miss Garlett—yes, a pretty lass, but a poor little -body! Her father died not long ago, and now she’s all alone.... She was -almost beside herself with grief when they took him away. Now she’s a -bit calmer. Every day she goes out and visits him in the graveyard, but -otherwise she never goes out and no one comes to see her. And no one -came to see them when the old gentleman—in fact, he was not old—was -alive. You see he met with an accident—fell off the electric. When they -brought him in....” - -“Who and what was Mr. Garlett?” asked the other, interrupting her. - -“A professor, or a philosopher, or something like that. He gave lessons. -That was how he earned their living, I reckon. I’d like to know what the -poor little lass will have to live on now. The rent is soon due, and it -was always a hard pull to pay the rent.... The two had to be mighty -thrifty. They had only one old woman who used to come in every day to -help, and they only nibbled—like sparrows. But books! their rooms were -just piled up with ’em! He must have been a real bookworm, the poor -gentleman! and the little one used to be reading all the time, too.... -The only luxury they ever allowed themselves was to go three or four -times a month to the fourth gallery of the opera house or to the Burg -Theater. But they weren’t never down in the mouth, neither of ’em, in -spite of all the worry and their little money; on the contrary, they -were as gay as larks—especially the lassie. We always heard her laughing -and singing in her room, though outside, to be sure, she was always -serious and, so to say, a bit haughty; perhaps she inherited a bit of -haughtiness from her departed mamma.” - -“Was Mr. Garlett a widower, and how long had he been?” - -“Oh, for fifteen years or so. That was quite a romance. His wife was a -count’s daughter, it seems. He had been private tutor to her brother at -a castle: the young lady fell in love with him—he was a handsome -fellow—indeed, he was. They eloped and were married. The parents—mighty -stuck-up folks they was—was furious and put a curse on their daughter.” - -“Ah, my dear lady, that only happens in old-fashioned novels: parents -cursing their children.” - -“I don’t know nothing about these things, but this much I know, they -wouldn’t have anything more to do with her; never gave her no money, -sent back all her letters, and the dainty young lady, who all her life -had ridden in kerridges and had her pony and ate nothin’ but cakes and -ice cream, and al’ays had noblemen dancing attendance on her,—for she -was heiress to a great estate and was as pretty as a picture,—just like -her daughter, so folks says,—well, she couldn’t stand poverty and living -among common people, and so she just up and died when her little girl -was only five years old.” - -The stranger arose. “I thank you; I have all the information I wish.” - - -Franka climbed the stairs up to her rooms, which were situated on the -fourth story. Painfully, clinging to the banister, often pausing to get -her breath, which always seemed to die away in a trembling sigh, she -made her way up. The deepest sigh she drew as she opened the door and -entered the anteroom. The anteroom? Really the kitchen; but the kitchen -hearth was hidden by a screen. The place was rather dark and chilly. It -was April, and the weather was still pretty cold. - -Franka passed through this place and pushed open the door of a front -room: her bedroom. Here it was brighter and more comfortable. The -furnishings were to the last degree simple, not to say shabby, and yet a -certain something in the arrangement of the furniture, in the articles -and trinkets disposed on the tables and the walls, betrayed a taste for -elegance. - -She laid aside her hat and cloak and opened the door into the adjacent -room, which had served her and her departed father as sitting-room and -dining-room, as study- and music-room. The door leading into still -another contiguous chamber was closed. That was the room where Garlett -had slept and dressed, and where he had died. Franka glanced into it—as -she always did when she returned, as if to give a mute greeting to the -place where she had last seen the beloved form of the departed, cold in -death; then she softly closed the door again with a reverent gesture, -crossed the sitting-room, and stretched herself out on the sofa with a -long-drawn sigh—half lamentation, half ease. - -She was so weary, so weary in body and soul at this moment, that the -goad of her grief began to vanish from her consciousness, and she -experienced only a kind of over-saturation of pain and a keen sense of -yearning for rest. She drew over her chilly limbs the skin rug that lay -on the sofa and banished all thought and feeling; she wished only to -breathe and rest. - -She was not sleepy; her eyes remained wide open, and she saw the rows of -books which on the opposite wall reached from the floor to the ceiling. -She saw her piano which had been silent and neglected for weeks. She saw -her writing-desk which stood by the window, and the great center-table -heaped with many folios. Gradually it began to grow darker, and through -the window panes fell the glare from a row of brightly lighted windows -of the house opposite. Up there was a printing establishment. The -muffled rumble of the rotary presses also came to her ears. From the -apartment on the floor below penetrated the staccato strumming of a too -familiar opera-waltz—repeated with obstinate pertinacity—detestable -sounds! Oh, if one could but hear the musical tinkle of a brook or the -call of the cuckoo! - -An overmastering love for nature, for its perfumes and voices, for its -green vistas and golden gleams, had ever been one of Franka’s strongest -passions—an unfortunate passion, for the crushing struggle for existence -had enchained father and daughter almost exclusively to the narrow -streets of the suburbs, and very rarely had opportunities been given for -them to get glimpses of the splendors of free nature. - -Nevertheless, this young girl’s mental life had not been narrow. She had -ventured to gaze off over wide horizons, up to sublime heights, into -mysterious depths, in a manner seldom afforded to young persons of her -age and sex. Her father had been an investigator, a scientist, a -thinker, and a poet, and he had made the child his comrade. She was no -bluestocking, thank Heaven—from that she was safeguarded by her -temperament, by her inborn charm; besides, he had spared her all the dry -details of science, all the rubbishy accumulations of accuracy, -endeavoring rather to disclose to her only the blossoms of the wonders -of science, of the intellect and of arts. But of life itself she had -enjoyed extraordinarily little: no travel, no experiences, no -love-affairs (she had been far too rigorously and jealously guarded -against anything of that sort), no passions:—none of these things had -penetrated into the monotony and loneliness of her existence. All the -more, therefore, in place of these came visions, hopes, air-castles, -confident expectations that the future concealed in its folds some great -good fortune in store for her, a good fortune in which above all others -her beloved father would share. And instead of this, a great, an -absolutely incomprehensible piece of evil fortune had come upon her: the -sudden departure of her dearest and only friend, teacher, playmate, -protector, her all in all. - -In her present desolation the only persons who had interested themselves -in her were an elderly couple who had rooms on the same floor—a retired -major and his wife. When Mr. Garlett died, the major had taken upon -himself to make all the arrangements for the funeral, and the major’s -wife had done her best to comfort and console the despairing girl. - -The major had investigated the drawers in the writing-table to see if a -will or anything else were to be found. There was no will, only a -savings-bank book calling for several hundred gulden, and of course the -only daughter inherited this: it was enough to cover the funeral -expenses and to leave a small sum over. In a portfolio was a sealed -letter with the direction, “In case of my death to be mailed.” The -address on it ran:— - - _To His Excellency_ - _Count Eduard von Sielen_, - _Geheimer Rat, etc._, - _Schloss Sielenburg_, - _Moravia_. - -This letter the major registered and mailed without letting Franka know -anything about it, because in these first days she was so dazed that she -really did not hear what was said to her. - -It so happened that the major and his wife moved from Vienna to Graz, -and Franka was now really alone. She realized that she was obliged to -devise some means of earning her livelihood, and yet she had been -putting off from day to day the effort of taking the first steps in this -direction. The money in the bank was sufficient to allow her for a short -time to lead her own life. But this respite was, indeed, brief, -especially as the rent would be shortly due. - -Franka was not thinking of this at all as she lay there in the twilight -and gave herself up to the sense of restfulness that was coming over -her. Gradually this absence of thought, between sleeping and waking, -transformed itself into a pleasant half-dream. The waltz-rhythms from -the neighbor’s piano grew into a murmurous combination of organ tones -and the distant roaring of the sea; the gleam of light from the -printing-house opposite took on the prismatic colors of an electric -fountain; and through her mind—or was it through her blood?—vividly -flashed the consciousness, not expressed and not even formulated in -thought:—“I am young, I am beautiful, I am alive....” - - -The next day Franka set out to look for a position. She thought she -might become a companion or a reader or something of that sort. She -applied at several employment bureaus. Her name was registered, the -booking-fee was put into the cash-drawer, and then she was asked for -references. She had none. The woman who had charge of one bureau -remarked: “You have one great fault: you are too young and too pretty.” - -The remark was to the point. Although she was more than twenty, Franka -seemed scarcely eighteen. She was very tall and supple in figure; her -big black eyes—though much weeping had temporarily robbed them of their -usual fire—were shaded by beautiful thick lashes; her mouth had a fairly -fascinating loveliness; in her carriage and in every movement there was -something both charming and aristocratic. - -“Do you know, miss,” said the manageress, “you would do better to go on -the stage rather than try to find a position.” - -Franka shook her head: “For that one needs talent as well as special -training.” - -“You might attend a theatrical training-school.” - -“I have not the means. Besides, I should not find it congenial.” - -“You will find it very hard to get a place in a home ... without -references and so dangerously pretty.... I should hesitate to recommend -you. There is nothing that I know of now to suit you. However, perhaps -something may turn up; if there should, I will communicate with you.” - -When Franka got home after this unsuccessful circuit, the maid met her -with the information that a gentleman had been there inquiring after -her. He said he had been acquainted with her late father and that he -would return in an hour. - -Shortly after this the doorbell rang and the maid brought her a -visiting-card on which Franka read:— - - _Freiherr Ludwig Malhof, k.k. Kämmerer._ - -She admitted the visitor. At the first glance she recognized in the -person entering the elderly gentleman who had recently followed her from -the cemetery to the house. She had only once, when she reached the door, -turned around to glance at him, but his appearance was too striking not -to make an immediate impression: a figure of more than ordinary height -with broad shoulders and long, sweeping gray side-whiskers. - -“Pardon me, Fräulein, for introducing myself, yet I might....” - -“You knew my father?” said Franka, interrupting his apology; “will you -not sit down, Baron, and tell me...?” - -She herself took a seat and indicated a chair for her visitor. He sat -down and placed his silk hat on the floor. His eyes rested inquisitively -on the lovely maiden’s face. - -“In fact,” said he, somewhat hesitatingly, “I am ... I met Mr. Garlett -at a friend’s house where he was giving lessons.” His glance wandered to -the opposite wall on which hung a portrait. - -“Is that your picture?—A wonderful likeness.” - -“That is my mother’s portrait.” - -“Ah! such a resemblance!... And have you lost your mother also? So you -are absolutely an orphan, quite alone?” - -“Quite alone.” - -“But you have some relatives?” - -Franka shook her head. - -“Then you have some protector? Perhaps a sweetheart?” - -“No, no one.” - -“It does not seem possible that when one is so beautiful, there has not -been some love-affair....” - -A shade of annoyance flew over Franka’s face: “Sir, you desired to speak -to me of my father....” - -“Exactly so, your father ... but, my dear child, let us rather speak of -yourself.” In the man’s eyes flashed a look of lustful eagerness. He -quickly dropped them, but Franka had seen it. “Yes, of you,” he -continued; “your fate is worthy of all sympathy. Mr. Garlett cannot have -left much property.... Your future is so uncertain.... You are exposed -to all sorts of dangers.... You need a friend”—he stretched out his -hand—“you need a fatherly friend—let me take your little white hand....” -At the same time his voice began to tremble with ill-restrained -tenderness. - -Franka stood up, and withdrew her hand which the other had seized. She -surveyed him with haughty eyes. “Among the dangers of which you speak -certainly belongs that of an absolutely strange man penetrating to my -lodgings and offering me his friendship.” - -The amorous cavalier realized that he had gone too far. “This energetic -sally on your part shows me, my dear Miss Garlett, that you know how to -protect yourself from certain dangers. You are a very sensible young -woman.” He also had stood up, and had taken possession of his hat. “I -shall turn this reasonableness to account. You will hear from me -again.... I will leave you now; yet I beg of you to be convinced that I -wish you everything good.” - -A stiff bow and he went out without Franka’s making any attempt to -retain him. - -When she was left alone, she breathed a sigh of relief. Still a shadow -of doubt came over her, whether she had done wrong in offending a -possibly harmless man who wanted to befriend her, whether he had really -known her father, and for that reason had followed her from the -cemetery.... Yet, no, her feminine instinct had detected the lustful -look which had betrayed its forked flame in the eyes and the honeyed -smiles of the elegant old gentleman. - -Alas, to be alone and without means in this world, and obliged to defend -herself against such attacks!—Nowhere an arm to protect her, nowhere a -heart to which she might fly for refuge.... And now, what? Supposing she -should find no situation? And even if she did, would she not be still -just as lonely, just as deserted among strangers? - -“Oh, father, father,” she cried aloud; “my noble, my youthful-hearted -father, why did you have to die?—Die without accomplishing the high -tasks which lay before you!...” - -Whether Garlett would have ever accomplished the tasks to which his -daughter made reference is very doubtful. There had been literary plans -which he had long had in mind, but he had never brought any of them to -fulfillment. Was it from lack of time—for when one must give private -instructions to earn one’s bread and butter, there is little leisure for -writing books—or was it from lack of energy? He had never got beyond -projects, sketches, introductions. But in Franka’s eyes he always was to -be the greatest author of his age. His masterpiece was there—it lay -complete in his brain and required only to be written out. - -In their readings and their studies together, it had often happened that -he would pause and develop some idea associated with what they had been -perusing, or would utter some deep remark, and add: “I will write a book -about that.” Themes for essays were on hand in abundance, and Franka had -made a collection of such utterances which she had jotted down in a -book. She had turned over these pages every day since her father’s -death—to her this seemed like a continued spiritual communication with -him. Now, after her unexpected caller had taken his departure, and -feeling doubly unhappy under the bitter impression that he had made upon -her, she went once more to the cupboard where those papers were kept, in -order to obtain from them diversion and edification. - -She would soon be obliged to part with the books and all her household -goods, for if she were burdened with a library and furniture she could -not enter the house of strangers, but this beloved volume she would keep -forever and in all situations of life. From it the very voice of the -beloved father would speak; from it would flash up in her mind those -momentary pictures, which often a sentence or a word—just as a -stereopticon throws them on a screen—can waken out of the depths of -memory. - -The leaf which she first took up contained only brief notes in Garlett’s -handwriting. Were they thoughts of his own, were they citations? -Probably both mingled together. Franka read:— - - The aim of men’s active organization - Is the getting out of the World all the good it will yield, - Whether it be the domain of the Mind’s creation, - Whether it be the crop of the well-eared field. - - - None of the fixed stars is nearer to us than four millions of millions - of miles.... And we call that speck Austria—a great country! - - Moral progress finally consists in the increase of the horror felt - against the infliction of pain. - - - Over abysses of night the eye of the Spirit can wander, - There to behold the gleaming of yet uncreated light. - - - Nothing great can ever be accomplished without inspiration. - - Where to-day the vanguard camps, there to-morrow the rearmost rests. - - - “Of all good works, the long list through, - Which is the best for us to do? - When his disciples of the Prophet - Asked this, what think you he made of it? - No good work with another can interfere: - Do each in its right time: that is clear.” - - - O Napoleon, standing on the Vendôme column, if the blood that thou - hast caused to be shed, were collected here on this place, easily - mightest thou drink of it, not stooping. - - -A few days later a packet was left at Franka’s door; she herself took it -in. When she saw the postman, she hoped that he was bringing her a -notification from the employment bureau that a place had been found for -her. What would she do if her small store of money should come to an end -before she had found any situation? There were still left the furniture -and the books, but what they would bring would be small and soon -exhausted. She had already made inquiries of second-hand dealers and -antiquaries: these had come and looked at her possessions and offered -for the “whole business” a ridiculously small price.... - -She opened the package: a jewel-case and a letter were inclosed in it. -The case contained a pair of diamond studs. The letter read as follows:— - - - DEAR FRAÜLEIN,— - - I promised that I would appeal to your reason. This is what I am - doing, and I picture to myself a sensible, a very sensible young lady - as reading these lines. I shall talk very frankly with you. You must - also be perfectly frank, not only with me, but also with yourself, - putting on no mask, affecting no pose—least of all those of virtue, - such as belong only to the heroines of Gartenlaube novels. Real life - must be taken and lived in another way, if one is reasonable, and that - you are, my lovely Franka! - - Now, listen: I have fallen violently in love with you. I saw you in - the street and followed you. I made inquiries about you and your - circumstances. I know the whole story; you are without family and - without means, and are on the very threshold of bitter poverty. I also - know that you are endeavoring to find a paying situation, for I - followed you when you went to the employment office. - - Tell me, really, would you, with your striking beauty, take up with a - wage employment, be a dependent? Now there is one thing that I might - have done: I might have tried little by little to sneak into your good - graces and then ... but it goes against my grain to play the elderly - Don Juan. I am aware that I no longer have the appearance to warrant - my attempting to win young maidens’ hearts; but I can make a - reasonable maiden happy: that is, I can offer her a care-free life, a - life full of enjoyments. Only, there is to be no misunderstanding: - this is not an offer of marriage. I am a confirmed old bachelor and I - propose to remain one. What I offer you is better than the fortune of - being the wife of an unloved and jealous old husband, for if you - wished to deceive him it would entail great worry in hiding it and it - might cause a damaged reputation besides. - - I offer you freedom,—perfect liberty,—the unobtrusive society of a - lively man, not without wit, who will, as they say, “look after you” - as long as you will permit him to do so. First and foremost he offers - you luxury. Listen: luxury. That means the essential element of - beauty, the only atmosphere for a creature like you. A splendid villa - in the cottage-quarter, servants, a carriage of your own, gowns, - jewelry: everything of this sort I lay at your feet. This does not - imply a retired and restricted life—not at all: in your salon we shall - receive my friends and their lady friends,—artists and writers and - interesting foreigners: it shall be a real salon where everything - sparkles with intellect, music, and gayety; also theaters and concerts - to your heart’s desire. And in summer: journeys, trips to the - seashore, the mountains.... - - As you see, Franka, child, a horn of plenty filled with delights is - going to be poured out for you. Only do not be a narrow-minded - Philistine; only no “principles” and moral commandments after the type - of ancient almanac stories or complimentary gift literature for girls - of riper age. Life, my dear young lady, is entirely different from the - stale moralities that find their expression in the samplers of old - maids and that are honored in the tea-table chatter of suburban - aunties, as they turn up their eyes in holy horror!—Life wants to be - boldly grasped, to be conquered with joyous pride; above all, to be - enjoyed. - - Such an opportunity is not offered to many of your sex; how many, in - spite of youth and beauty, must, if they are poor, waste their lives - in degrading, wearisome, laborious occupations, struggling with all - sorts of privations, only at last to take up with some rough husband - who will make her wretched—unless, indeed, the terrible, abominable - fate overtakes her, of which possibly you know nothing, of becoming a - victim of the international white-slave traffic which not infrequently - makes use of intelligence offices.... - - Was it not your good genius, your guardian angel, that has so disposed - matters that an elderly man, heart-free and wise in experience, has - crossed your path, has fallen in love first with your pretty face, - then with your whole admirable personality, that this man has no other - obligation than the disposition of a very large estate, and that he in - fond expectation of your summons signs himself - - Your humble Slave? - MALHOF. - - -After Franka had finished reading this letter, she tore it into tiny -bits, and, laying them on the pale-yellow velvet of the jewel-case next -the glittering stones, made the whole into a package, which she -carefully tied up and sealed; and, after addressing it to Baron Ludwig -Malhof, hastened to mail it at the nearest post-office station without -taking a moment’s time for consideration. She felt a keen satisfaction -in flinging the gift and the letter down at the feet of her insulter. On -receiving them back, he would redden with shame as if he had been struck -by the riding-whip of an angry queen. - -Or would he not rather laugh at her for her “virtuous pose,” for her -“moral Philistinism”? Franka was conscious that it was not a -conventional “virtue” which had stimulated her impulsive action, but a -mixture of one tenth sense of honor and nine tenths aversion.... She was -not quite ignorant as regards the mysteries of love, although she had so -far had no love-affairs. Her father had delicately initiated her, -through studies of plants and animals, into the secrets of the -transmission of life, and her comprehensive reading, begun when she was -a little child,—the poets, somewhat later the German, French, and -English novelists,—had given her an insight into the whole world of -passion,—into the tragedies and joys, the sorrows and dreams, of love; -also into the crimes and baseness, the ardent happiness and the depths -of despair, which are found in the domain of sex, and, on the whole, she -had a boundlessly high ideal of love. Perhaps for the very reason that -hitherto she had found no one to inspire this feeling in her soul, -because no little adventures and gleams of romance had disillusioned -her, her ideas and presentiments, if by chance they swept into this -domain, were so high-strung. - -A love union and paradise were to her two similar conceptions. A pure -fountain of devoted tenderness and a glowing hearth of passionate -yearnings were concealed in her inmost being, still panoplied round with -virgin austerity, with a delicate, flower-like terror of any impure -touch. If ever she bestowed the treasure of her love, it would be for -the recipient and for herself a sacred moment of the loftiest bliss. - -And the idea of her throwing herself away for money, for clothes, for -precious stones,—and instead of highest rapture to feel only deepest -repulsion,—to endure the embraces of that old satyr, the kisses of a -shriveled, detestable mouth.... No! Sooner die! And should Fate never -offer her the possibility of giving that treasure to one truly beloved, -then were it better sunk in the depths of the sea! That hateful creature -had written something about a horn of plenty filled with joys—yes, she -possessed such a one to pour out upon the dear life that would be united -with hers.... No; that should not be wasted and shattered! - -The next day, as Baron Malhof was preparing to go and get his answer -from the young girl, an answer which he did not doubt would be -favorable, though perhaps awkwardly expressed, he was interrupted in the -midst of his fastidious toilet by the arrival of the package. After he -had opened it, he hissed out two words which expressed his whole sense -of disgust:—“Stupid goose!” - - -Several weeks elapsed, and still no situation offered. Now Franka was -constrained to sell her books in order to exist for a time—and what an -existence! She was standing in front of the bookcase, selecting the -volumes which for the time being she still felt unable to part with; she -intended to lay these aside so that the second-hand dealer whom she had -summoned might not see them. - -Tears stood in her eyes, for to her it was a great and painful -sacrifice. She would have preferred to keep them all, for almost every -one of those volumes was associated in her memory with joyous, -soul-stimulating hours—all of Goethe, all of Shakespeare, Byron, Victor -Hugo, and other classics of universal literature. They must all go—these -good spirits which had with their magical pictures glorified so many -winter evenings for the two solitaries! Also, away with the thick-bodied -works of the philosophers, from Aristotle to Schopenhauer; away with the -works of history and the encyclopædias; away with the whole rows of -modern fiction. - -Only a shelf-full of scientific books by contemporaneous -authors,—scientists, thinkers, and stylists at the same time,—Bölsche, -Bruno Wille, Herbert Spencer, Emerson, Anatole France, Haeckel, Ernst -Mach, Friedrich Jodl, and a few others,—these she would keep and take -with her and plunge into again in order to get edification from the -remembrance of the unforgettable words which her father had spoken to -her when they were reading them together. - -“Child, these are revelations! What the human mind—which is certainly a -part of God—has gradually glimpsed at and recognized—is the disclosure -of the Highest, and therefore is what men call Revelation. In -astonishment and awe we are learning things of which our fathers and the -majority of our contemporaries had no suspicion. We are penetrating into -mysteries which bring before our eyes the grandeur of the universe and -its infinities and which still remain mysteries—for our consciousness -only perceives but does not comprehend them. We are standing on the -threshold of perfectly new apperceptions, and so at the threshold of a -wholly new epoch: fortunate are we who are to live in this twentieth -century. It is the cradle of some new-born thing destined to the most -glorious development. What will it be called? No one as yet knows; only -posterity will find a name for it. - -“Child, approach these revelations with a religious mind. You know what -I call ‘religious’: to have the sense of reverence, to know that there -are sublime things as yet unknown; to wish to be worthy of the greatness -and the goodness that everywhere prevails and therefore to be good one’s -self. Now, perhaps you may ask what I mean by ‘good’? There is no end in -the chain of definitions;—do not always try to explain, but rather to -feel, and then you have the right thing....” - -In many of the books which Franka was now glancing over were places -marked by her father’s marginal notes; some of them, made with pencil, -were so pale that they were scarcely legible. Franka got a pen and ink -and retraced the lines. While she was engaged in this work, she was -interrupted by the entrance of the maid:— - -“Excuse me, miss, there is a gentleman outside as wishes to speak to -you.” - -“Oh, yes, I was expecting him; please show him in.” - -A comfortable-looking, well-dressed man of middle age entered. He bowed -politely. - -“Miss Garlett? I take the liberty ...” - -“You have come to see about the books?” - -“What books?” - -“Were you not sent by the dealer?” - -“No, miss. I take the liberty of introducing myself: Attorney Dr. -Fixstern. It concerns a matter which is of the highest importance for -you.” - -“Oh, in regard to a situation—?” - -A suspicion crossed her mind. She remembered what Baron Malhof had -written her regarding the traps that sometimes are laid in the offers of -employment bureaus. She would be on her guard. - -“No, not at all; something quite different. Will you permit me to sit -down—as the interview may be somewhat protracted?” And he drew a chair -up to the table. - -“Please, I am listening; but I have not very much time....” And she -herself sat down at some little distance. - -“Oh, you will give me all the time I want! What I have to say to you is -too agreeable for you to wish to break off my communication, my dear -very much honored Miss Franka Garlett. That is your name, is it not?” - -“Yes, that is my name,” she answered coldly. - -“Daughter of the late Professor Garlett, and likewise of his late lawful -wife, Ida Garlett, born Countess Sielen of Sielenburg?” - -“My father and I were not accustomed ever to mention that title.” - -“Your father was very democratic in his notions, was he not? But to the -business in hand: I am the attorney of His Excellency the old Count -Sielen, and I have come here at his request.” - -Franka listened in the greatest agitation; this did not sound like an -offer of a situation and was, indeed, surprising. - -Dr. Fixstern took out of his breast-pocket an envelope and laid it down -before him on the table. Then he went on to say:— - -“Your grandfather, miss, a short time after his return from Egypt, where -he had been sojourning on account of his health, found waiting for him a -letter from Mr. Garlett. I have it here. Perhaps you are familiar with -its contents?... No?... Then, will you please read it?” - -With a throbbing heart Franka took the letter and unfolded it. The -beloved handwriting! It was like a greeting from beyond the grave. She -read:— - - - TO THE COUNT OF SIELEN:— - - For almost a generation I have been to you like one vanished. Never - have I attempted to approach you. As it were, an abyss lay between - us—we had both inflicted the utmost pain on the other: you, by your - harsh repudiation of my beloved wife, who died in consequence of it—I - to you, by robbing you of your daughter. As long as we lived we could - not pardon each other. - - But in the presence of death, all resentment, pride, and everything of - the sort which are the bitter prerogatives of the living, disappear. - - This letter comes into your hands only in case death has stricken me - before my Franka is provided for; such is the name of my daughter, - your grandchild. Orphaned, left without a farthing, she might be - exposed to the deepest poverty and the greatest dangers. This thought - is my sorrow and my torment. The maiden is sweet and good and highly - educated, and—as you cannot read coldly—she has grown up to be the - image of her mother—feature for feature. Graf Sielen, I beg of you: - look after the young girl. Do not let her suffer want or ruin. - - -The signature, with date and address, followed. Having read it through, -Franka gazed at the sheet for a long time. - -Dr. Fixstern awakened her out of her thoughts:— - -“Would you like to know, miss, how His Excellency responds to this -letter of your father—a letter which, it must be said, is very effective -by reason of its brevity?” - -A warm stream of joy expanded Franka’s heart. The lawyer had already -informed her that he had pleasant news for her: so it was clear that her -grandfather was going to look after her: there would be some one to love -her again.... - -“Well, Doctor,” she asked, with eagerness, “what message do you bring -me?” - -“A pleasant one, my dear miss. The count has instituted inquiries about -you, has had you carefully watched of late, and has now decided to -invite you to come to Sielenburg. He will provide for your future. He -himself would have come to Vienna to fetch you, but illness confines him -to his room—the old gentleman is now more than seventy—Egypt seems not -to have done him any good. Now I am commissioned, in the first place, to -make this disclosure to you, and, in the second place, to hand you these -lines.” - -He took a second sheet out of the envelope and handed it to Franka, who -read as follows:— - - - SIELENBURG, May 20, 1909. - - DEAR GRANDDAUGHTER:— - - I invite you to make your home with me. The bearer, my attorney, will - provide whatever is necessary and will accompany you hither. God bless - you. - - COUNT EDUARD SIELEN. - - -“In the third place,” proceeded Dr. Fixstern, “I am to hand you a small -sum of money,” and suiting the action to the word he laid on the table a -bundle of bank-notes—there were ten one-hundred-kronen bills,—“and, in -the fourth place, to consult with you regarding the prospective journey -to Moravia. You probably require some little preparation and in this my -wife may be able to help you.... Now, my dear miss, have you a little -more time to spare for me?” - -Franka offered him her hand. She could not immediately find words—it was -like a dream, like a fairy-tale. A home! So suddenly to be rescued from -all her tribulation and all her desolation—a home! - - - - - CHAPTER II - CHLODWIG HELMER - - - AT THE SIELENBURG, 1909. - - DEAR COUSIN AND BELOVED FRIEND! - -It was a pleasant surprise when your letter, after long wanderings, -reached me here. I was convinced that you had entirely forgotten me,—ten -long years we had lost sight of each other,—and now suddenly down upon -me rains this letter in which you relate to me the experiences which you -have been having in all this time and you want to have the like from me. - -Oh, how gladly do I fulfill your wish! I am simply hungry for a regular -outpouring of my mind. Your twenty pages would make the basis of a -fascinating novel: interesting events described in a fluent style. Now, -my answer ought not to prove much shorter: I shall devote to it a few -hours of leisure, but I shall not take much trouble about polishing my -style. “Unconstrained”—do you remember? That was the catchword that we -selected at the time when we became intimate friends as students in the -same class in the Theresianum. “Unconstrained”—ah! in this word lie -whole revolutions, and you know well that I have always been a -revolutionist. - -Now for my story. I will begin at the very end, that is—this very day. -Before I confide to you what I have been doing during these last years, -you must know where and what I am at the present moment. My residence is -called Schloss Sielenburg. It is surrounded by a great park of twenty -acres, and from the window is visible a forest which is my delight. Many -trees a hundred years old, and one oak a thousand years old, stand in -it, and there are moss and shrubbery and the twitter of birds. That -there are still such forests on the earth can console one for the -existence of cities and suburbs. - -From my window I can see the roof of the stables where there are six -pairs of carriage-horses and six saddle-horses. A garage for the -automobiles is just building. Among the saddle-horses is a gray with a -silken mane, with some Arab in his build and behavior, with such -thoughtful and reproachful, and at the same time affectionate, eyes—ah! -I tell you there are animals also here below, the existence of which can -console us for many of the councilors and aldermen that are their -contemporaries! So you may easily imagine how reconciled with the world -I feel as I ride on that gray through yonder forest! - -I am not master of all this accumulated wealth: castle, grounds, -forests, stables, and garages are the property of the Right Honorable -Count Eduard Sielen—a sick old man. He exercises his dominion also over -a secretary, and that secretary am I. - -Now you know—I, the cabinet minister’s son, over whose future career we -could not make plans sufficiently ambitious,—to be an ambassador was one -of the lowest of my expectations,—am now in a subservient, humble -position, am obliged to be forever ready, at my gracious master’s beck -and call, to write at his dictation or read to him the newspapers, or -anything else. And yet I feel much more free than when I was in the -government service, for I can throw up my place at any moment, and the -work which I am performing is independent of what I think; it leaves my -private character, my personal actions, untouched, whereas in the -service of the State the master cannot be changed and one must -subordinate his whole “I” to his standards, and only act and work as an -unelastic system demands. - -No, I could not have endured that yoke. I did not endure it. After -completing my volunteer year, I began my regular service under a -district chief; once I ventured to contradict my superior, and as a -punishment was transferred to a smaller district at soul-killing labor -and no living wage; one must practice for some years before one gets a -decent salary—I left the service. - -In the mean time my parents had died—so I had no need of asking any -one’s advice. I was free. I had inherited a small property profitably -invested in industrials; this made me independent. I traveled about the -world and I have seen a tremendous lot and learned a tremendous lot from -my experiences. - -Then suddenly the value of my industrials fell so far below par that one -fine day the bonds were so much waste paper. That meant: “Go to work -again.” For a time I was a journalist, but that also was an unendurable -yoke. I was obliged to bend my judgment to suit the opinions of the -paper on which I was engaged as an editorial writer, and these opinions -were, to tell the truth, no opinions at all, but consisted in following -the instructions given out by the ministry. Here again was a form of -slavery, of gagging, which I could not put up with, and I left the -editorial sanctum just as I had left the government office. Then I was -happy when I was offered a position as secretary to the old Count Sielen -which I have been filling for two years now. Here I can at least poetize -and think as I please. - -Yes, poetize. Perhaps you did not know that I have discovered in myself -the impulse to write verses, and a collection of my poems has already -appeared in print and has been enthusiastically received by the critics. -I will not name the title and publisher, lest you may think that I am -hinting to you to buy it—moreover, I have issued it under a pseudonym -which I will not divulge until my reputation is established. At the -present time I am putting the last touches to a four-act drama. You have -no notion what a delight, what an exalting consciousness of -accomplishment, lies in writing out from one’s very soul what moves it. -And to create! To enrich the world with something new! The joy of -creation is the highest of all joys. If I were not a poet I would crave -to be an inventor.... I do not know, for example, whether the name -“Edison” should not be spoken with as much respect as the name -“Shakespeare.” I am now following enviously the work of the aviators—I -look up to the Zeppelins and the Wrights as to heroes and especially as -to heralds. They are sounding the call to a new era. They are summoning -their fellow-men to vanquish an unheard-of future—perhaps without -knowing it, for their minds are fixed on the mechanical part of their -work. The aerial age! Do you surmise what that signifies? Certainly, -those have no notion of it who would accomplish nothing else with their -sky-commanding apparatus than to elevate into the air the ancient -scourges of the depths. - -In your story of the last ten years which you have so kindly made me -acquainted with, you write a vast amount about your experiences in life -and love. - -Pardon me, if I do not tell you anything about my experiences in love. I -do not want to profane, in dry epistolary prose, whatever has sanctified -my life with tender charm, and I would not soil my pen with vulgar -adventures. Every man has in this domain a bit of magic dreamland and -a—register of his peccadilloes. The one I leave undisclosed, the other -unconfessed. - -On the Sielenburg at the present time—not taking into account the -kitchen department—there is no one of the gentle sex dangerous to any -man’s heart or peace of mind. The housekeeping is under the charge of -the count’s widowed sister, the Countess Schollendorf, who is at least -sixty-two years old. She exercises control over the household and the -servants and she invites guests according to her own idiosyncrasies—for -the most part ancient female cousins. There are three of that sort here -now, accompanied by their maids and their lapdogs. One of these -females—her name is Albertine—has two terrible peculiarities: the first -is sincerity, and the second is that she is deeply concerned with the -well-being of all her fellow-men. It results from the first that she is -always telling people to their faces the most disagreeable truths, and -from the second that she expects of them every sort of sacrifice and -renunciation and other torments—of course, “only for their own good.” - -There are still other habitués of the establishment: the castle chaplain -and an aged ruined cousin four times removed, to whom Count Sielen -furnishes bread and butter. As you see, it is not a very gay society, -nor is the conversation at table very enlivening. Yet, just now, the -count, because of his miserable health, is accustomed to take his meals -in his own room, and I keep him company, which is preferable to sitting -at the lower end of the table in the big dining-room and listening to -uninteresting small-talk, mostly confined to the idle gossip of court -and society, unless, by chance, thanks to the old cousin, who is an -arch-reactionary, it skirts the domain of politics—which makes it -particularly distasteful to me. This gentleman would especially like to -see restored the conditions that prevailed before the year 1848, and -from this standpoint he illuminates the present-day events and questions -of which his newspaper—the “Reichspost”—brings him an echo. - -That his opposite neighbor at table has Jewish blood in his veins—you -know my mother’s grandfather was a Jew—does not prevent him from letting -his opinion concerning regrettable disturbances culminate in the -sentence: “The Jews are responsible for that”:—for example, the Russian -revolution and the horrors connected with it, all initiated by the Jews: -the decay of morals, the increase of poverty, the downfall of the old -aristocratic families, earthquakes and floods (these latter as God’s -punishments)—all these things are attributable to the Jews. He does not -say in so many words that the destruction of this pernicious race would -be a praiseworthy remedy, but he leaves it to be plainly understood. - -The chaplain—I must give him due credit for this—does not agree with -such truculences: he is a good man, a gentle Christian, and as such -avoids everything coarse and spiteful. During these discussions I remain -obstinately dumb, for I cannot contend with Cousin Coriolan. The eyes of -his yearning are turned back to the past, while mine look to the future, -and it is impossible, while standing back-to-back, to fence with him. - -And do I hear you ask: “Your count, your employer, what is he like?” -He?—A dear old fellow: I cannot say anything else. Genial, jovial, -simple, friendly, gay. He must have been a man of captivating -personality. Now, indeed, he is old and ill, and yet his sense of humor -has not deserted him. - -The count is a widower and childless. He had two children, but lost them -both under tragic circumstances. The daughter—a marvelously beautiful -girl—ran off with her brother’s tutor. At that time the countess was -still living—a terribly haughty and hard-hearted woman, and nothing -would induce her to pardon her daughter for this step. The count would -have gladly given in, but the inexorable woman would not relent. - -In a few years the daughter died, and shortly afterwards the son met -with a fatal accident in a boating-party. It was whispered about that he -was of very light weight, and that he had showed great lack of love and -respect for his parents: consequently, his loss was not such a severe -blow to the count, although it deprived him of his only son and heir. He -was much more deeply affected by the loss of his daughter; in the first -place, her elopement with a man who was regarded as unworthy of her, and -then her death. But time has healed all those wounds. The cheerful, -light-hearted temperament of my dear count (for I really love the man) -won the day. He had the reputation of being the gayest and wittiest -cavalier in his time, and even only two years ago, when I first entered -his house, he was in the happiest state of mind and of a geniality which -simply captivated my heart. - -Just now, indeed, he is a great sufferer, and old age, which he has so -long victoriously resisted, is at last getting in its detestable work. -He is not and has never been what is called a high intelligence. He is -clever with a somewhat superficial cleverness, without great -depth—without complications, without subtlety, but abounding in -straightforward, honest, human understanding. His wit never stings and -never bites; it merely smiles and winks; in short, my poor count is, as -I rather disrespectfully remarked above, a dear old fellow. - -I have never made a confidant of him about my anonymous poetizing: he -has no inclination for poetry. His reading—that is, what I read to -him—consists exclusively of selections from the daily newspapers, the -weekly comic papers, French novels—but they must be piquant; and for -serious pabulum: memoirs of princes, generals, and statesmen. Military -and diplomatic history, especially relating to the time in which he took -an active part, interests him. But all this has inspired me with a great -disgust at the kettle of chatter and intrigue in which the soup of the -unsuspecting people’s destiny is cooked. Aye! the nations have no -suspicion what contemptible means the great men who make universal -history use, what petty aims they pursue: personal jealousies and -ambitions, entanglements of lies and errors and accidents, whereof are -born the mighty events which are explained as the expression of Divine -Will, or of a scheme of creation conditioned by natural laws. And, vice -versa, the great men high up know nothing of the people: they fail to -comprehend their sufferings and hopes. Their awakening and stretching of -limbs they have no suspicion of.... - - - _Two days later._ - -Since I wrote the above, something has happened. For some time it has -seemed to me that the count was concealing something from me. If his -attorney, Dr. Fixstern, came, I was dismissed from the room, and letters -addressed to him were not as usual dictated to me, but were written by -the count himself. And now I know what the secret was; early this -morning the count confided in me: The child left by the daughter who -eloped with the tutor has turned up, and the grandfather has invited the -young girl to make her home at the Sielenburg. She will be coming now in -a few days. The old gentleman is delighted. - -I am full of curiosity. The young thing will scarcely feel very -comfortable at the Round Table which I described to you. Well, later in -the summer there are various visitors from the neighboring castles, -among them young people, and in the autumn there are many brilliant -hunting-parties. Of course, owing to my position, I hold aloof from all -these things. My world is not this world of aristocratic society—my -kingdom is that of the imagination. There I sometimes indulge in revels -and there I hope to attain some rank—not mediocre; there ceases my -modesty. Artists must not be—inwardly—modest, else they are not artists. -Just as an athlete feels his muscles, so must the artist feel his power -of creation. A host of thoughts press forward to be formulated, and -these thoughts are elastic and swelling like an athlete’s muscles! A -domain which no Pegasus’ hoof has as yet ever touched invites me. First -I am going to finish my drama, which treats of a social problem, and -then I shall fly away to that virgin land where horizons flooded with -light open out before me. I am going to compose the epic of the conquest -of the air.... I shall fly up to the flaming corona of the Sun, and from -that I will pluck down forked flames to annihilate all that is low and -common. I am called away, so I will mail this and will write again. - - Yours ever, - CHLODWIG HELMER. - - - - - CHAPTER III - FRANKA’S NEW HOME - - -Franka Garlett leaned back with closed eyes in one corner of the -compartment. In another corner sat Dr. Fixstern, in whose company the -young girl was making the trip to her new home. The railway journey had -already lasted four hours and they were not far from their destination. - -For some time Franka had been sitting there motionless, as if she were -asleep. But she was not sleeping; she wanted undisturbed to give herself -up to her thoughts. Very mixed feelings stirred in her heart. When she -called up the idea of “home,” which had come to her mind at the first -revelation of the change impending in her destiny, she felt excitement -and a sense of joy; but, immediately, this was succeeded by a certain -timidity. “Home!”—that is the cherished spot where all one’s loves, all -one’s accustomed habits, all one’s recollections cluster; but she was -coming to an unknown place, among absolutely strange people! Even though -Count Sielen was her grandfather, she had never seen him, never even -thought of him; between him and her there was no common remembrance, -except the fact that he had been cruel to her parents. In Count Sielen’s -eyes, Frank Garlett had been only the shameless brigand who had robbed -him of his daughter: Count Sielen had never known what a splendid man -this unwelcome son-in-law had been. She would tell her grandfather that, -but would he believe it? And would she be able to love the old man? And -would the great-aunt accept her? After the description which Dr. -Fixstern gave of her,—a rather proud, rather bigoted, rather -narrow-minded old lady,—she had little hope that she would find a -mutually sympathetic relationship in that quarter. Ah, she was so alone, -so alone in the world, after being accustomed to confidential -comradeship with her beloved father!... Two tears trickled down her -cheeks. - -“Oh, Miss Garlett,” cried the doctor, “I thought you were asleep, and -there you are crying!” - -Franka straightened herself up: “Oh, I was thinking of my poor dead -father.” - -“Think rather of your grandfather, and instead of tormenting yourself, -rejoice! Just think what an unexpected piece of good fortune has come to -you.” - -“You are right: it is ungrateful of me.” - -“Your grandfather will assuredly see to it that you are suitably -married.” - -“I don’t intend to be married.” - -“You don’t want to marry?” - -“Oh, well, perhaps; why not? But to be married off....” - -“Oh, yes, I understand the distinction. But now it is time for you to -put on your hat and I will get the traveling-bag down; the next station -is ours.” - -Franka pinned on her hat; it was black, for she still wore mourning, but -it was pretty and very becoming. Under the direction of Dr. Fixstern’s -wife, she had provided herself with new and elegant clothing, and she -was not insensible to the comfortable feeling of being neatly and -correctly dressed, although nothing was farther from her nature than -vanity and a love of finery. - -The train came to a stop, and Franka’s heart began to beat: so now, now -was the beginning of a new life.... Would there be any one from the -castle to meet her and greet her?... The platform was full of people, -but merely passengers of the third class, waiting for the next -train—peasants, market-women with baskets or bundles. There was also a -servant in livery. He approached the coach from which Franka and her -escort were dismounting. On the street in front of the station an -automobile was waiting—a great open limousine, the white lacquer of -which glittered in the sun. The chauffeur was standing beside it and -helped Franka to enter. It was the first time in her life that she had -ever been in such a vehicle. Indeed, a new life in every respect! - -Along a road between red-blooming clover-fields, through a fir forest, -the branches of which were loaded with bright green cones, and then up a -long avenue of ancient chestnut trees, the chauffeur took them toward -the castle with its towers and pinnacles, its bow-windows and verandas, -which now began to be visible against the horizon in the distance. The -weather was warm, but the air, fragrant with spring, fanned Franka’s -face with refreshing coolness as the machine swiftly sped along. Franka -took deep breaths; her cheeks were aglow with color and a smile of joy -played around her young mouth. She had only just been shedding tears, -and now a keen feeling of delight swept through her whole being. The -future must bring her something beautiful ... she would not have to be -always so alone...! The wide world is, indeed, a savings bank in which -rich funds of love are deposited, and youth, in itself, is a kind of -checkbook. - -Along park drives bordered with shrubbery, past flower-beds and pools, -from which rose glittering fountains, flew the machine, and came to a -stop under the _porte-cochère_ of the castle. Several servants stood -waiting and took her hand-luggage. On the steps above, Franka was -received by the count’s sister. - -“Welcome, dear child.... How are you, Dr. Fixstern ... so you have -brought the child with you safely, have you? Come, Franka, we will go -directly to my brother—he is waiting for you in great anticipation.” - -The lady spoke in a friendly tone, and her face wore a friendly -expression; but the doctor, who knew her well, could not help perceiving -that both in her voice and in the expression of her face there was a -tone and a look of insincerity. - -Through a long corridor adorned with potted plants and hung with -paintings, Franka was conducted into another wing and ushered into the -count’s apartment. It was a room paneled with dark leather and filled -with ancient furniture. In a tall armchair near the window sat the -count, a pillow behind his head and a covering over his knees. Pale and -ill as he looked, he was a handsome old man. Noble, regular features, -his white beard trimmed close and to a point, large blue eyes beaming -with friendliness, his hair silver-white, but still brushed up in a -thick mass above his forehead. - -“Here, Eduard, I bring you your granddaughter.... Come, Dr. Fixstern, -let us go into the adjoining room; we will leave the two alone for a -little.” - -A young man, who was sitting in one corner of the room at a table -covered with writings, stood up and was about to leave the room. - -“Remain, if you please, Mr. Helmer, and continue your writing; you will -not disturb me. And you, my girl, come nearer, quite close, so that I -may look at you.... My eyes are growing dim....” He held out to her a -slim white hand. - -Franka went to him with quick steps, knelt on the footstool that was -placed near his chair, and kissed the hand he offered her: “Grandfather! -How kind of you!” - -He laid his hand on her head, and bent her face back. - -“So it is! you are the living picture of your poor mother. Remarkable! I -hope, however, you will not resemble her in all respects ... at least, -that you will not also run away out of this with some young rascal....” - -Franka sprang up. - -“Count ... this can be no home for me, where my father is to be -insulted.” - -“There, there! not so fast! I like it in you, that you spring to the -defense of your beloved father. I beg your pardon. Besides, I did not -mean anything so very bad. The word ‘rascal’ in my mouth carries no -insult—I myself was one when I was young, and I should be very glad if -any one would call me an old rascal now—but here I must sit, tied down -to this chair.... ‘Count!’ I will not let you scold me that way; just -say, as you did so prettily a moment ago,—‘Grandfather.’ ... And I have -still another thing to ask your forgiveness for: that it was so long -before I took any notice of you.... That was cruel to you and cruel to -the memory of my daughter.... She made a mistake ... but of all mistakes -is not implacability one of the worst and stupidest?—So, little girl, be -forgiving ... call me ‘Grandfather’ ... that is right; a great French -poet has written a book entitled ‘L’Art d’être Grandpère.’” - -“Yes, Victor Hugo,” assented Franka, nodding. - -“You seem to be well read.... Now, you see, I am beginning rather late -to learn that art, but I shall be an industrious scholar.—And now, will -you be conducted to your room? I feel ill again ... a real cross -sickness is ... go, dear child.” - -Franka was about to bend over the old gentleman’s hand to kiss it again, -but he lifted her head up and imprinted a kiss on her brow. - -An hour later Franka had already finished the unpacking of her -possessions; she had disposed her books and photographs, and this -communicated a somewhat cozy appearance to the long unoccupied chamber, -with its stiff, old-fashioned furniture. It was an enormous room with -four windows looking down into the park. Gay-flowered chintz covered the -chairs and sofas and the same material served as hangings for the -windows and the curtains of the bed. Adjoining was a little toilet-room -and bathroom. Next to this was the chamber of a maid whose services were -at the disposal of the “gnädiges Fräulein.” - -So new, so unwonted was all this magnificence! Ought not all these -unexpected, these truly brilliant surroundings to have awakened a -measureless joy in Franka, who had spent her young days in the midst of -such privations? But why was she so sad? - -Ah, yes, if her father had only lived and she might have shared these -delights with him, or at least have told him about them.... - -Joys are like tones—in order to sound, they must have resonance. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - LIFE IN SIELENBURG CASTLE - - -Five months had passed and a cold gray autumn had set in with pallid -suns, soggy mists, wailing tempests. As melancholy as the weather was -Franka’s mood. Sielenburg had not proved a home for her: she felt that -she was a stranger, that she was in exile. Her grandfather, who showed -her friendly affection and to whom her heart went out in sympathy, grew -constantly worse, so that more and more rarely he summoned her to his -side, and when she came, he had but little to say; he merely would ask -her to tell him about her past, to describe her early life, and to talk -about her parents. - -He asked her very little about her present existence, and even if he had -done so she assuredly would not have told him that she was wretchedly -unhappy; that the great-aunt always treated her with the utmost coldness -and reserve; that the insipid conversation of the two other old ladies -“got on her nerves”; that the cousin, with his views expressed so -arrogantly and dogmatically,—views so diametrically opposed to all that -she had learned from her father,—still more affected her, indeed, caused -her real agony—all this and much more she could not confide to her -grandfather without troubling him, without making him think her -ungrateful. Of all the inhabitants of the castle, Mr. Helmer, the young -secretary, would have been the most sympathetic, perhaps for the very -reason that he was young, and youth feels drawn by irresistible power to -youth; but she came scarcely at all into contact with him, because he -was rarely present at meals, and when he was, he took no part in the -conversation. - -Only once had he made an exception to this reserve. At table Cousin -Coriolan had spoken about the dirigible balloon: he said: “So then, the -thing seems to be feasible.” - -“And you remember, Baron,” remarked the priest, “that you have always -expressed the opinion that all these aëronautical and aviationary -projects were ‘the utmost nonsense,’ ‘crack-brained balderdash,’ -‘lunatic absurdity,’ ‘the summit of imbecility’—I noticed your words -particularly—I like your strong expressions....” - -“Well, well, Chaplain, to err is human ... but I venture even now to -predict that nothing practical or useful will ever come out of them ... -only catastrophes.... What would happen if such a monster should fall on -the Emperor’s roof at Schönbrunn? ... For reconnoitering in war, it -would be extremely dangerous, for naturally the enemy would shoot up at -them. The only good that they would accomplish would be the scattering -down of explosives—but they would never be able to take any great amount -up with them and the mark from such a height would be very difficult to -hit—it would be like spitting from the balcony on a nickel lying on the -sidewalk, the much-vaunted airship business will in the long run—” - -“Make of man another man,” interrupted Chlodwig Helmer, raising his -voice. Franka pricked up her ears. “Behind the azure door which has been -flung open streams a light, destined to breathe new souls—aerial -souls—into new generations of men.” - -The rest of the company exchanged glances as much as to say: “What is -the matter with the man? What has got into him?” - -Franka would gladly have heard him continue. - -“Please, Mr. Helmer, explain what you mean....” - -But he shook his head and said no more. - -She occasionally met him in her grandfather’s room; but there also he -generally remained silent. If he spoke, as he did only to answer some -direct question, she found something particularly attractive both in the -sound of his voice and in the choice of his words. - -He was not handsome—far from it; he would be rather more likely to be -called ugly; but it was not a common ugliness, and whatever else he was, -Mr. Helmer was certainly a gentleman. - -Franka had not failed to notice that she inspired the young man with -admiration: it betrayed itself in his eyes, in his attitude, in the -intonations of his voice. It was a thoroughly respectful admiration -which strove to hide and not to betray itself, and consequently Franka -responded to it with many a gracious word and friendly smile. - -But an end soon came to this harmless little flirtation, if it could be -called such. Six weeks after Franka’s arrival, Helmer was obliged to -take his departure from Sielenburg. Cousin Albertine had indulged in -some idle gossip concerning the two. “Evidently,” she said, “that crazy -secretary is falling in love with Franka.” Something peculiar also was -noticed in Franka’s behavior, and after her mother’s escapade—the apple -does not fall far from the tree—and it was to be feared that some -similar fatality might ensue.... These and other insinuations made to -the count’s sister, and by her communicated to the count himself, -resulted in the young man’s being dismissed. After his departure Franka -felt still more isolated. - -In the course of the summer several times, but not frequently, for an -hour or two during the afternoon, callers from the neighborhood came to -the castle, and were served with a cup of tea in the garden. The -conversation always revolved around the same topics: society and family -news, the prospects of the harvest, hunting experiences, chronicles of -sicknesses, and the results of “cures” at the sea-baths, gossip of the -court mixed in with a dash of politics (from the agrarian point of -view), and with lamentations over the degeneracy of the times (from the -clerical point of view). - -It devolved on Franka, as the daughter of the house, to pour the tea, -yet the others treated her with a shade of condescension, as if she were -only a kind of companion. She could never even try to insinuate herself -into the good graces of these strangers; she remained taciturn and -reserved. The topics of conversation and the questions that occupied the -lives of this little circle scarcely appealed to her; perhaps, if she -had grown up and been educated among them, she might have found -edification in it, but it was all strange to her—on the other hand, the -others had no comprehension of her aspirations, her ambitions, her realm -of thought. - -One day she had a surprising encounter. As she entered the salon her -eyes fell on a stranger who was sitting in the midst of the usual -circle. His back was turned to the door, so she could not see his face, -but there was something strikingly familiar in his figure and attitude. -And with good reason—for as she came nearer, Countess Adele introduced -him to her as Baron Malhof. He manifested no surprise; he evidently knew -of the altered circumstances of Franka’s life. He made a low bow. - -“It is a great pleasure to meet you again, Miss Garlett.” - -“What, do you know my niece?” - -“Yes, I made Miss Garlett’s acquaintance a short time ago and learned to -have a high regard for her.” - -Malhof sat next to Franka at the tea-table. Unobserved by the others, he -said to her in an undertone:— - -“You seem to be still incensed with me—but you ought to know what I have -done for you. I have just been in to see your grandfather. I was well -aware that you were making your home here, for I had learned the whole -story from your landlady of whom I have frequently inquired about what -you are doing. And to-day I told your grandfather the whole story of the -little comedy in which you and I were the actors....” - -“You did...?” - -“Yes, although the part I played was rather deplorable; for that very -reason yours was all the more brilliant, and I felt that I owed it to -you to make this reparation. Count Sielen had a right to know what a -brave, high-minded maiden his new-found granddaughter is.” - -“Was that your opinion of my behavior, Baron Malhof?” - -“Not at the first moment—to tell the honest truth; at that time I was -quite vexed and thought your behavior simply—pardon me the -expression!—simply stupid, terribly _vieux jeu_;—but here is a somewhat -old-fashioned _milieu_ where all such heroic actions of virtue awake a -response and I said to myself: ‘If I tell the whole story to the old -gentleman, it may prove useful to the young lady who so abused me ... -that letter you tore into bits!—it will put her into a beautiful light -and make her still dearer to the old man’s heart,’—as you see, I am -capable also of noble impulses. There is one thing I should like to ask -you: Are you happy?” - -“How could I fail to regard myself as happy? It would be sheer -ingratitude toward fate!” - -“Well, yes, ‘to regard yourself as happy,’ but ‘to feel happy’? Life -cannot be very gay among all these wigs.... I do not often come -here—only when I am visiting their neighbors at the castle of Dornhof, -where I generally spend a week almost every year. Then I make my -respects here and I have always found the house tedious to the last -degree, except when the old count used to enliven it with his presence; -but for the most part during the last few years he has been away -traveling. Of course, I had heard about the family romance,—the daughter -who ran off with the tutor,—but that you were the result of that -elopement, I never suspected until I made a fool of myself about you.... -Do not look so angry; that folly is past and gone.... I have taken my -place toward you—especially since I have confessed to your -grandfather—as a kind of honorary uncle.” - -On this episode Franka looked back with satisfaction. - -On the other hand, she remembered something very unpleasant that had -happened to her during the early days of her new life. She had been -summoned at a quite unusual hour to her great-aunt’s chamber. She had -scarcely crossed the threshold when she realized that she had been -invited to appear as a defendant before a criminal court. Behind the -table sat the old Countess Schollendorf in her sternest aspect, with her -headdress askew, betokening inward excitement; next her, in the capacity -of an assistant, Aunt Albertine, and on the table as _corpus delicti_ -two books which Franka instantly recognized as her property. - -“Come in; sit down and explain yourself: How came you by these books?” -This was spoken in a harsh, inquisitorial tone. - -The books were Prince Kropotkin’s “Memoirs of a Revolutionist” and -Bölsche’s “Liebesleben in der Natur.” - -Franka had calmly taken a seat. - -“I might rather ask,” she replied, “how come these books here, when they -were locked up in my bookcase?” - -Miss Albertine, with a honeyed expression, put in her word:— - -“My dear girl, this matter concerns your own good: I myself brought the -books down. The bookcase was not locked; the key was in the door; I did -not break it open. It is perfectly natural that we should be interested -in what is read by a young person over whose well-being we have to -watch. The other books there I do not know.... I should have to read -them first; but the titles of these two are sufficient to condemn them. -So I brought them down to Aunt Adele. We have glanced through them -and....” - -“And,” said the superior judge, taking the words out of the other’s -mouth, “I had you summoned to tell you that you are to hand over to us -your whole library—it was evidently your inheritance from Professor -Garlett, who seems to have been a Freemason.... And I will speak to you -with the utmost frankness: you must know that a young girl of our -circles does not make the acquaintance of revolutionists and their -works.... These are very, very pernicious theories—the worst possible. -And then Socialism and Feminism and Pacifism, and all these new ‘isms’ -such as are coming into existence in our day.... And now that -‘Liebesleben’! I trust you have not read it!” - -“Oh, yes, I have—I read it with my father.” - -“And are you not ashamed of yourself? This is certainly the most -extraordinary thing I ever heard of! Why, one learns there how herrings -break the sixth commandment—it is positively disgusting! Do you not know -that there are things which a sensible young maiden—I will not say of -our circles, but any sensible maiden—ought to have no suspicion of? What -have you to say in your defense?” - -“Nothing.” - -Franka felt as if she would choke and she uttered the word with a deep -breath. - -“What does this all mean? Do you wish to rouse my anger?” - -“Do not get excited, Adele,” interrupted Miss Albertine appeasingly; -“just think—the poor child has not enjoyed the right sort of education; -she inherited her mother’s frivolous nature and on her father’s side she -is of no family at all—therefore, she lacks the instinct of what becomes -our world.... Yes, you are lacking in many respects, Franka, and if I -speak in all sincerity,—it is impossible for me to be anything else than -sincere,—it is only with the intention of being useful to you. You are -still young enough to learn a good deal, to change and to become worthy -of the great advantage that you are enjoying here.” - -Franka’s throat felt as if a tight band was fastened around it. It -occurred to her to run away; she was almost tempted to kill herself—to -jump out of the window.... But after a while, as Miss Albertine’s -discourse kept on its even flow, she recovered her self-control. - -“I ask only one thing,” she said—“that this whole charge be brought -before my grandfather. I will abide by his decision.” - -“Do you really wish this? I had intended to spare you this disgrace, and -was going to say nothing to my brother; but if you yourself desire -it ... very well, I will send and find out if we can see him.” - -When an affirmative answer was brought, the three ladies betook -themselves to the count’s apartment. Miss Albertine held the _corpus -delicti_ under her arm. The count was alone. He was sitting in his -accustomed place in the reclining-chair, and looked exceptionally lively -and well. - -“What! Three man strong you march along!” he exclaimed, greeting them. - -“Yes, grandfather, you see here a judge, a witness, and a defendant—and -I am the defendant; now you are to be the supreme judicial court.” - -“Oho! and is there no advocate for the defense?” - -“I shall be my own advocate.” - -“Very good: now what is the complaint?” - -“It is no joking matter,” said the Countess Adele. - -“Indeed, it is not,” said Miss Albertine with emphasis. “It concerns -Franka’s own good; else we should not have bothered you with it. Your -condition demands perfect quiet—you look very miserable.... Forgive me, -but I must tell you the truth only for love of you so that you may take -care of yourself.” - -“Yes, yes, your frankness is touching. But to the business....” - -The two old ladies, using almost the identical words as before, -formulated their complaint and at the same time handed him the books -that were under suspicion. - -When they had had their say, Franka cried: “May I now offer my defense?” - -The count raised his hand. “No, what is the use? I see clearly how the -whole matter stands and can render my judgment. A crime, at least a very -detestable misdemeanor, has been committed—or, rather, a whole series of -misdemeanors:—looting of others’ property; inquisitiveness and -espionage; tale-bearing and making charges; injury and insult; attempted -moral constraint and tyranny!” - -“But, Eduard,” exclaimed the old countess reproachfully, “do you blame -us instead of this erring child?” - -“Most certainly, I blame you. Franka is neither in the path of error, -nor is she a child. She has not been brought up as you would have -brought up your daughters, and she has different ideas. Has she -attempted to force these ideas on you? Has she ever tactlessly and -offensively expressed her ideas in order to bring yours into unfavorable -contrast?” - -“No, she has done nothing of that kind. On the contrary, she has -hypocritically kept her terrible ideas, imbibed from these terrible -books, quite to herself.” - -“Why do you say ‘hypocritically’? I call it tactful. If one lives with -people who belong to another world of ideas, it is right to avoid -bringing up the discussion of questions whereon they would differ; and -so people, even though they think so differently, can get along together -very congenially. Moreover, there is nothing so very terrible about the -two books—I happen to know them. Bölsche is a scientist; Kropotkin an -idealist. I do not exactly share their point of view; I am an old -country squire, and have taken little interest in the natural sciences -and social problems; but I know that we live at a time when much that is -new is crowding out the old. We can’t make all shoes on one last, and we -cannot expect our grandchildren to be educated exactly as our fathers -were educated. And as far as education goes, certainly nothing more -needs be said about Franka’s. She will be of age in a few months: I had -her come here to a home, not to a young ladies’ boarding-school. I will -not put up with her life being spoiled by the others in this house.” - -“Oh! how good and kind you are!” stammered Franka, who had once more -knelt down on the footstool near Sielen’s reclining-chair. - -“Never mind, my girl; don’t bother your head about it. The aunts meant -well.... But now I will ask you to leave me for a while. The affair has -agitated me.” - -That ended the incident. To be sure, a little bitterness remained, but -the two old ladies from that time forth avoided any nursery-governess -tone toward the young girl. The sick master’s will was law on the -Sielenburg. - -Still another incident, somewhat later, produced a still deeper -impression. It was a letter. Almost never did the postman bring Franka -any mail. In all the more excitement she tore open the envelope which -she found one fine morning lying on her breakfast-tray. It was in an -unknown hand and unsigned. After she read it, she easily guessed who its -writer was. - - - VIENNA, August 2, 1909. - - My greetings to you, Franka! As an actual man I am not justified in - addressing you thus familiarly, but this is only a kind of wave-motion - from soul to soul. The reason for this letter is, that you appeared to - me last night in a dream. You looked sad and troubled. Something of - questioning and yearning was expressed in your face and was evident in - your outstretched arms. In what direction would your desires, your - longings, your questionings wing their flight? Your surroundings will - give no fulfillment of them, no answer to them. Perhaps I may be able - to serve as a guide—perhaps I may be able to solve some of the riddles - for you. And since you have appeared to me in a dream—and because I am - fond of you—I venture to approach you as a bodyless teacher, a - formless brother, a lover who hopes for nothing. Or rather—do not call - it presumptuous!—I come to you as a priest. I have religious - consolation in readiness for you and I will lay down religious - commandments for you. - - Yet, let this be for the last. We will first speak of worldly things. - The question which a pretty girl of twenty asks of fate—even though - she does not acknowledge it to herself—is, “Shall I be happily - married?” She might just as well ask, “Shall I find a needle in a - haystack?” For it is just as difficult, out of the hundred thousand - chances of an unhappy marriage, to secure the one slender chance of a - happy one, although every young woman believes that for her - particularly there are several ready for choice. And the claims are - not modest. Dozens of conditions cluster around the idea of - “happiness”—above all, love. And in it are united all the attributes - and aspects of this manifold phenomenon:—the platonic and erotic; - passion, sentimentality, devotion, sweet torment and tearful ecstasy, - hot desire and the full and peaceful possession—and this whole medley, - presumably to last as long as life, based on eternal faithfulness ... - (_il faut en rabattre!_) - - But love alone is not sufficient. To happiness, as dreamed by the - young maiden, some other things are needed: if not wealth, at least - perfect pecuniary independence, a comfortable and fairly elegant - household, continued good health, social recognition, pleasant - occupation, pretty toilettes—perhaps also handsome children. I am - speaking of the average girl, not of the ultra-modern type before whom - a quite special expression of personality is held up, or from whom the - well-known “call of motherhood” is extorted. - - To that class you do not belong; you are not eccentric, you are calm - and reflective, but assuredly you are also hungry for happiness. - - Now the question for you is: “Will Destiny pay the note which Youth - and Beauty have drawn on her?” Who can tell? It is a matter of - accident. Accident is only another name for Fate, and cannot give you - any remedy against her tricks. Consequently we must possess something - to raise us above all perils, above poverty and loneliness, above - illness and sorrow, yes, verily, above the terrors of death! - - If you had been educated in a convent, such a talisman would have been - put into your possession: the knowledge that you were a child of God, - the belief in happiness beyond the grave, the union with all that is - sacred in the eternal and in the infinite. But this golden talisman - would have been handed to you in a tin capsule of dogmas, and you, - like so many others to whose riper taste and judgment the capsule no - longer appealed, would have flung the whole thing away, contents and - cover; or, like so many others, you would have only clung to the - outward wrapping as a kind of symbol, as a ceremonial necessity. - - At the present time, in this country, it is a part of good form to be - pious. By assiduous church attendance, by friendly intercourse with - the clergy, by scorn and contempt for all free thinking, one tickets - one’s self as belonging to fine society. They are mere forms, to be - sure, but how can the man and the woman of society differentiate - themselves from the ordinary mass of humanity if not by the observance - of forms? Signing the cross, as one sits at table,—the way it is done - of late in aristocratic houses,—is not a mark of reverence, but a - “correct” gesture—equal to the conventional court curtsy. - - I would not wish to imply that there are not actually honest believers - who in spite of the tin capsule penetrate to the golden center of the - talisman and are thereby elevated and strengthened. “Be good!” is - certainly the profoundest meaning of every religious imperative—honor - to the man who with voluntary obedience listens to this commandment by - reason of his faith. - - You were not educated in a nunnery—as I happen to know. Do you possess - that fervent Something, by means of which a person is raised above all - the eventualities of life and above one’s self? That I do not know. - Let me explain to you what I understand by this “Something”: let me be - for half an hour your catechist! - - This is the mystery:—Recognize as your home, that is to say as the - place to which you belong, a domain larger than your house, than your - family, than your parish, than your earth—the universe. You belong to - it: it belongs to you. Religionists have an inkling of this truth and - they call it “the fatherhood of God.” Science has investigated it and - here it is called “indestructibility” and “homogeneity of matter” and - “eternal conservation of all energy.” This guarantees you immortality. - The part that you play in the great world-drama is important, just as - every one else’s is, and it is never played to the end. - - Do not shrug your shoulders and say: “What is the use of a continued - existence if, in another life, I do not remember the former; if my ego - has disappeared?” Certainly “_your_” ego, in its present form, is - lost, but in the new form you will feel an ego in similar degree. Is - your consciousness, your inner sense of life, lessened by the fact - that you do not remember the existences through which you have passed - in the infinity behind you? The past ego was not “another one,” nor - will the ones that follow be,—they all are a part of the same ego of - the universe, divided billions and trillions of times. If one has - learned to feel one’s self as a constituent of the eternal circle of - life, if one knows that one is akin to the plants and the stars, if - one feels in one’s inmost soul the sparks flashing from the flame of - the Universal Spirit, then one is penetrated by the sense of being a - child of God just as much as a nun kneeling in prayer on the stone - flags. - - Yet these are only impulses for especial exalted hours—not at all - times can one feel consecrated to the All. But there are also narrower - circles into which one can enter and escape one’s own egotistical - loneliness—any kind of a great community. For some, it is found in - art; for some in the various so-called “Movements,” or political - campaigns, or even revolutions; either in active coöperation or mainly - in intense sympathy: in either case one will be elevated above the - everyday pettinesses and ennuis of one’s own existence, if it be petty - and tiresome, aye, if it be full of sadness! Listen, Franka, to the - roaring of the stream of Time; see how human society is striving to - attain new goals, how it is engaged in the battle with the powers of - the traditional—to acquire more light, more freedom, more - righteousness; in a word, more happiness. - - A mighty aid to this uplift of souls is found in the technical marvels - with which human invention is every day transforming this world. We - live in a great, great age! Especially great, not so much in what is - as in what is to be! To think of sharing in it all! Do not miss the - noble enjoyment which every bold ascent is preparing! And even if you - yourself cannot attain a height, then rejoice in the lofty flights of - humanity. “Soaring”—the word was formerly applied to us men only - figuratively, but now—you know what happened only a few days ago—for - the first time a man flew over the Channel ... and these surprises, - these triumphs will be enlarged.... Look and listen! Show yourself—let - us all show ourselves—worthy of having been born under the glory of - the twentieth century.... - - -Here the letter abruptly ended. It was not difficult to guess from whom -it came: only Mr. Helmer could have been its author. Had any definite -address been attached to it or an answer been demanded, perhaps Franka -would have sent a letter in return. She had hardly given a thought to -the young secretary since she no longer had occasion to meet him. After -the receipt of this letter, however, which she read from beginning to -end several times, it was natural that her thoughts should turn -frequently to Chlodwig Helmer. What especially moved her was that -something of the spirit of her father seemed to breathe through this -letter—there was the same trend of thought and at the same time almost -the same use of words and phrases. This was not strange, for where ideas -coincide, there must be a similarity in expression of them; every -philosophy of life has its own terminology. Above and beside all the -abstract ideas contained in the letter there was also the striking of a -note which awakened a melodious echo:—the five words, “I am fond of -you”!—Then it happened, apparently in consequence of his statement that -she had appeared to him in a dream, that she also two or three times -dreamed of him, and wonderful!—in the dream his face was not homely—not -at all, but rather fascinating. No second letter followed, the dreams -were not continued, and the whole incident gradually grew faint and -indefinite. - - - - - INTERMEZZO - - -During all this time Mr. John A. Toker had been elaborating his plan. In -his brain, that which he proposed to do was already formulated. -Certainly he knew that everything destined to come into existence will, -as soon as it has sufficient vitality, begin to live, develop itself, -branch out, and be changed in a hundred different ways which its creator -is unable to foresee; yet the initial stage was clearly outlined before -Mr. Toker’s inner eye. The motives and ends, which at first had risen -before him mistily and indefinitely, he had long since supplanted with -clear and precise formulas. The whole was drafted into two pieces of -manuscript: one of them a letter, the other a circular. A copy of each -was now to be sent to the addresses of those famous contemporaries whose -names he had inscribed on the day when the project was conceived. Now a -few names had disappeared from the list and a few others were added to -it. - - - THE LETTER - - - DEAR SIR (_or_ MADAM): - - I am doing myself the honor of inviting you most cordially to spend - the first half of next June as my guest: not in my American home, but - in the center of Europe, at Lucerne, where I am making suitable - preparations for entertaining you and my other guests. You will find - the names of other persons invited indicated in the inclosed list. Any - one in your family or your household whom you would like to have as a - companion will be most welcome. The traveling expenses and, if - agreeable, a considerable honorarium will be supplied by me. The - inclosed circular will sufficiently show that this invitation is not - for a mere summer visit for personal ends, but includes coöperation in - a civilizing work of the greatest moment. - - Counting upon your favorable answer, I am, - - Yours respectfully, - JOHN A. TOKER. - - - THE PROSPECTUS - - - We are on the threshold of the aeronautic age. What mankind, up to the - present time, and especially in the last two or three decades, has - accomplished in the realm of technic is simply fabulous—is the - triumphant annihilation of the antiquated concept “Impossible.” - - And this is to go on in constantly accelerating progress. How feeble - in their first beginnings, how widely separated from one another in - time and space have been the great inventions and discoveries. And - now! Scarcely a day passes without some technical improvement being - simultaneously achieved in different places. The rapidity of progress - results in one marvel making another possible. Thus, to take only one - example, the dirigibility of the air-balloon was attained only because - automobilism had created the light motor. - - The intellectual and moral uplift of humanity has not kept up with the - technical. This is plainly seen in a single paragraph the reading of - which gave me the impulse to make the proposed experiment. The - paragraph read: “The dirigible balloon is destined to become the chief - weapon in wars to come.” - - This is equivalent to saying: “We will use the latest triumph of - victorious civilization for the confirmation of the most antiquated - barbarism.”—This must not be! - - What the physicists, the chemists, the engineers have given us, one - depending on another, each building a little higher on the discoveries - of his predecessors, what they have done through comprehending and - controlling the forces of nature and making them our servants, is on - the point of changing one half—the material half—of our world into a - realm of magic. - - But how does it stand with the spiritual half, the immaterial half? - The unhappiness of men, the wickedness of men, the mutual hatreds of - men,—these ghastly things give the answer to the above question: the - spiritual half is still far, far behind. The everlasting forces which - rule in this other half, and which, when they come to be known, - controlled, and made useful, would be able to change this half also - into a realm of magic: at the present time they are as yet concealed - and inactive. - - The engineers, mechanicians, and technicians of the moral forces are - the poets and prophets, the philosophers and artists; they are the - dynamic agents of thought, the leaders of intellect, the pathfinders - in the jungles of social institutions, the aviators in the eternal - sphere of ideas! Yet they are scattered through the centuries, - scattered in space. One lives in New York; another in Paris; the third - at Yasnaya Polyana; their names go from the élite in one land to the - élite in other lands, but do not reach the masses. How much more - powerful their work would be if it were coördinated, if the knowledge - of their doctrines, the glory of their names, the magic of their art, - proceeding from one central point, should radiate in all directions. - _Motors and propellers have taught us that power must be concentrated - and compressed, in order—by explosions—to drive the vehicle._ - - - THE ROSE-WEEK IN LUCERNE - - - This festival-time, which in my opinion will surpass in outward glory - all the previous “aviation meets,” all the Wagner festivals in - Bayreuth, all the carnivals in Rome or Cologne, all the regattas at - Kiel or at Cowes, all the races at Baden-Baden, will last with its - public functions from the eighth until the fifteenth of June. The - period from the first till the eighth belongs to my guests for - uninterrupted social intercourse. I believe that my great - contemporaries will thus find unique opportunity for high social - enjoyment, for the most fruitful inspiration. How rarely is it - vouchsafed for those who stand on the eminences of Humanity to consort - with their fellows! - - The second week will belong to the public, which will have the unique - enjoyment of seeing and hearing the laurel-crowned of all countries - assembled in the same place and of absorbing the lofty thoughts which - will flow from their words. - - The attendance at the lectures and art performances will in all - probability be immense. - - But what my guests will have to say is not to be limited to those - present. The echo of it will ring through the whole world. The great - journals will certainly send their representatives who will telegraph - long extracts from the various addresses. And involuntarily the Press - will in this way fulfill what ought to be its most important function: - to further the great universal interests of mankind instead of - stirring up international strife and cultivating local gossip. But we - will not depend on them: we ourselves will institute a large and - complete staff of secretaries and translators; we will employ a - printing-office and have the principal addresses set forth _in - extenso_, and send them out as pamphlets to all parts of the world. - And still more: gramophones will catch the very intonations of the - speakers, kinematographs will reproduce the gestures of the orators, - and the records and films will be sent out to thousands of schools and - settlements all over the world. In all regions and in all classes - shall be scattered the messages of the _Rose-Week_! - - What the men and women whom I have in mind will say, is not for any - particular race or class: its sole aim and object will be, “to elevate - all humanity.” - - And why roses? - - That I have chosen out of the twelve months of the year the month of - roses, that I am going to conduct the whole arrangement under the - emblem of roses—all the programmes, all the invitations, and so forth, - will be adorned with these flowers; on the buildings and festal arches - roses will be garlanded as escutcheons—a sardanapalian abundance of - living, blooming roses will be entwined around all the pillars, will - adorn the tables and walls; bushes blooming with roses and rose-beds - will be planted in the grounds—intoxicating perfume of roses will fill - all the air—a rose-bacchanal: all this is not, perhaps, a whimsical - fancy, an ostentatious piece of extravagance such as the - multimillionaires of Fifth Avenue are accustomed to vulgarize their - festivities with;—a deeper symbolism is involved in it: the whole - undertaking is to stand under the protection and the shelter of - Beauty! - - - - - CHAPTER V - COUNT SIELEN’S WILL - - -The gloomy autumnal sense of depression, which had settled down on -Franka’s mind and the whole of Sielenburg, grew ever deeper. Death was -making his entrance into the castle. For more than a week the sick -count’s passing away had been expected from hour to hour. The physicians -had expressed their opinion that it was inevitable and immediately at -hand. At Countess Adele’s suggestion the priest had already been -summoned in order to administer extreme unction to the man who lay -unconscious in his bed; the warder of the tower was ready at a moment’s -notice to raise the black standard, and the sexton of the adjacent -church was only waiting for the signal to ring the passing-bell. - -Franka ventured several times to enter the sickroom which was now a -death-chamber, and the moans which came from the bed, and mingled with -the storm howling without in an unspeakably melancholy dirge, rang -incessantly in her ears, even after she had left the room and repaired -to her own, which was situated in the other wing of the castle, where -the wind could not be heard. - -Here she was now sitting in the dark,—it was about seven o’clock in the -evening,—and was thinking of her own father’s death, which so short a -time before had left her an orphan. Now, by the loss of her grandfather, -she would be once more quite friendless in that house. Her tears flowed -for the poor departed father, for the poor departing count, and likewise -for the poor deserted maiden—for herself. - -Suddenly she pricked up her ears. In the prevailing silence she heard a -distant commotion: the opening and shutting of doors, hurrying -footsteps, voices.... With a throbbing heart she sprang up and turned on -the light. At the same instant her maid came hurrying into the room. - -“What has happened?... My grandfather?...” - -“Yes, Miss Franka; the count has passed away!” - - -On the morning after the funeral, which was conducted with imposing -state, the Countess Adele sent for Franka. - -“I have summoned you, my dear child, to have a few serious words with -you. Sit down.” - -“What can this mean?” queried Franka in some perturbation. - -“You have shown deep and, as it seems to me, genuine sorrow at the death -of my poor brother.” - -“Oh, yes, I loved him so!” - -“And you were right, for he was very kind—perhaps a little too kind to -you. He has not left you unprovided for. His will has not been opened as -yet, but I know about it, for he told me before you came that he -intended to leave you a legacy of forty or fifty thousand crowns. That -is a very neat little fortune. It is enough to cover the bond and you -can marry an officer. Besides, that is your natural vocation—to marry. -You could not be a canoness because you have bourgeois blood; and since -you have bourgeois blood, you can have no claim to marriage in our -class. Of course, you will not think of remaining at the Sielenburg. -Here you would have no opportunity ... and you do not get along very -well with us. I have never referred again to that fatal matter of the -books, but the sting remains.... At all events, I would not think of -casting you off. After all, you are my beloved brother’s -granddaughter—he recognized you as such ... so you are not to sink back -into the sphere in which you were brought up. Therefore, Cousin -Albertine and I have decided that she—Cousin Albertine—should take -charge of you. She lives in Teschen—a little city in Silesia. A very -large garrison is quartered there, and no doubt, as soon as it is known -that you possess the necessary amount, you will have suitors among the -officers, for you are a pretty girl. One should not depend too much on -mere physical beauty; still it is a recommendation—especially in -matrimonial affairs.... Albertine remained unmarried simply because she -was excessively homely ... that is still very evident. You will be very -comfortable at her house—she keeps up a very nice establishment—all the -officers’ wives attend her ‘At Homes,’ and young men will not stay away -as soon as it is known that the pretty niece is not quite without means. -But you must take great care not to give utterance to such anti-military -views as are preached in another terrible book which we found in your -room—‘Das Rote Lachen’—what a title! However, Aunt Albertine will -instruct you in the proper rules of behavior. As you know, she is very -plain-spoken, for she is extraordinarily frank—but that should never -offend you! She means it for your best good.” - -Franka let the old lady talk on, and did not make a sign. Formerly she -would have rebelled against much that her aunt said, especially against -the expressions, “sink back into the sphere in which she had been -brought up”; but now, on the day after the count’s burial she would have -no quarrel with his sister. She keenly felt that she could not exist in -the “sphere” to which they were trying to elevate her; she had decided -to depart from the Sielenburg and to refuse Aunt Albertine’s offer. If -it was true that her good grandfather had so generously remembered -her,—the amount mentioned seemed to her a very considerable sum,—she was -protected against poverty, and was her own mistress. And even if there -was no legacy for her, she would prefer to go out into the world and -obtain some situation. Anything but this state of dependence! Anything -but this moral dungeon! - -“Well, what do you say to this?” said the aunt in conclusion, after she -had gone on in the same tone for some time. - -“Excuse me, at present I have nothing to say. I am so affected by the -sad occurrences of the last few days—I really cannot answer.” - -“Very good; go back to your room again. I certainly appreciate that you -are quite unstrung, first from grief at your grandfather’s death and -also by joy at the brilliant prospects which I have disclosed to you.... -So, then, we will take up the subject another time. There is no -hurry—Aunt Albertine will not return to Teschen for six weeks; till then -you can remain here.” - -Franka stood up. “May I go?” - -“Yes, but at three o’clock this afternoon come to the green salon. At -that time we are to meet there and Dr. Fixstern, who has Eduard’s will, -is to read it. As you are probably mentioned in it, you should attend -the meeting.” - - -At the specified hour all the members of the family present at the -castle assembled in the “green salon.” Besides the Countess Adele, Miss -Albertine, and Cousin Coriolan, there were a few distant relatives who -had come to the Sielenburg for the funeral. Franka entered last and took -her place in a chair by the wall near the doorway. The others sat in a -semicircle in front of the table where Dr. Fixstern was engaged in -taking documents out of a portfolio. - -“Are all the persons concerned present?” he asked after he had taken his -seat in the armchair. - -“Yes, all are here,” answered the Countess Adele. “You may proceed, -Doctor.” - -Great excitement was visible in the features of those in the semicircle. -They were all more or less pale and breathless. The doctor straightened -his spectacles and began:— - -“Ladies and gentlemen, I have here the testament of my honored patron -and client, Count Eduard von Sielen, and I will now read it before the -assembled family. For more than twenty years, I have had the honor of -serving as the attorney and agent of the late count. It is, therefore, -only natural that he should have put into my hands the will which I and -my solicitor have signed as witnesses, and that he should have -designated me as his executor. I am fully acquainted with the condition -of his affairs and I have an inventory of all the real estate and -personal property which he has left. Here it is: if you will grant me -permission, I will first put this fully before you. - -“The count’s property was larger than might have been supposed from his -comparatively modest scale of living. It consists: (1) Of the domain of -Sielenburg in Moravia, of Grossmarkendorf in Lower Austria, and of -Hochberg in Carinthia. These possessions amount altogether to 8700 acres -of land and are unencumbered; (2) the Sielen palace on the Wieden in -Vienna; (3) bank-deposits in English and national banks amounting -nominally to two million five hundred thousand crowns. I have also a -complete list of the jewels, silver plate, paintings, and furniture to -be found in the various castles, in the Vienna palace, and also in -storage. And now I will proceed to the reading of the will.” - -The excitement in the semicircle had grown still more intense, and while -the lawyer was breaking the seal of the envelope and unfolding a large -sheet of parchment, one might have heard the beating hearts of those in -the assembly. - -Dr. Fixstern cleared his throat a second time and read in a loud voice:— - -“This is my last will. - -“I commend my soul to God. - -“Since my property is not entailed, I am free to dispose of it in -accordance with my best judgment. - -“I make my disposition as follows: I nominate as my universal legatee my -granddaughter, Franka Garlett.” - -At this all uttered an “Ah!” which was more like a shriek than an -exclamation. Cries of astonishment, of disillusionment, of indignation, -of dismay. Only the cry of joy was lacking, for Franka had sprung to her -feet, mute with terror, and then instantly sank back again. She would -have preferred to run away—to her father, that she might bring to him -this astounding piece of news!—to her grandfather that she might thank -him.... But they were both dead. Here among the living there was no one -who would look on her with anything but envy. Then before her mind arose -the thought of her anonymous correspondent whose tender word had flown -to her: “I am fond of you”.... If only he were by her side...! - -A moment passed before the general stupefaction had subsided, and Dr. -Fixstern could proceed. Now followed various bequests. All the -relatives, even the most distant, were remembered with larger or smaller -legacies; for the functionaries and servants were bequests either in -money or in pensions; various charitable institutions were also -remembered. Mr. Chlodwig Helmer, “whose character I have learned to -value very highly,” received a valuable ring; Dr. Fixstern as the -executor received a handsome legacy. After the bequests were paid, the -property descending to the residuary legatee would be diminished by not -far from a million crowns. After he had finished reading the document, -Dr. Fixstern arose and went to Franka, who was still sitting near the -entrance to the salon, and made a low bow:— - -“Miss Garlett, receive my congratulations: you are the mistress of -Sielenburg.” - -The others came also and congratulated her with bitter-sweet looks. -Franka was still, as it were, stunned. - -“It seems to me,” she said, “as if I ought to ask the forgiveness of you -all”; and the tension of her nerves gave way in a spasmodic fit of -weeping. - -Aunt Albertine began to busy herself tenderly with her:— - -“Come, come; I will conduct you to your room ... you must recover from -the shock ...” - -The way from the green salon to Franka’s chamber was through a suite of -salons down the long corridors, up the monumental staircase; and this -way, which she had so often taken, now seemed to her wholly new—it was -all her own property, her realm.... Under Miss Albertine’s affectionate -guidance she reached her room, but there she asked to be left alone for -a while—she desired to rest, she felt so unstrung.... - -“Yes, my darling, now get a good rest. I will go.” Franka locked the -door as soon as Miss Albertine had left the room. No one must disturb -her—she wanted to be alone with her great destiny. She drew deep audible -sighs just as one does after climbing a mountain-peak. Indeed, it was a -peak to which she had been elevated—a dizzy peak. What possibilities lay -open before her—what duties must she fulfill! Like a flash of lightning -the thought went through her mind: “I must accomplish something!” - -What? - -That she knew not. This thought was only a germ: but she felt that -something would come to fruition. A voice seemed to say to her: “Franka, -something great, something marvelous has happened to you”; and in the -depths of her soul came her answer: “I will be worthy of this marvelous -thing.” - -“Be worthy?” Where had she seen or heard that word lately? Oh, yes, now -she remembered: she took from her writing-table Helmer’s letter—there it -was. “Show yourself—let us all show ourselves—worthy of having been born -under the glory of the twentieth century....” - -Some one knocked at the door. Franka put the letter back into the drawer -and went to open the door. - -The Countess Adele entered. “So you wanted to rest after your being so -startled? Yes, it is startling, to be sure.... Who could ever have -imagined!—I must have a little talk with you about it.... We must have a -clear understanding as to what is to be done now.” - -She sat down, and Franka, resigning herself, took a seat. What would -Aunt Adele have to say now? Probably a whole series of suggestions and -counsels.... But in her heart the purpose stirred: “I will do what I -please.” - -“Well, aunt,” she said aloud, “let us talk. It is truly an unexpected, -overpowering stroke of Fate. I am still perfectly dazed by it.” - -“I can believe you. Now everything is changed. Nothing more needs to be -said about the plan of your going to Teschen which we discussed this -morning. Albertine, of course, would be only too glad to have you come -to her—she told us so before—but there would be no sense in it;—you will -remain with me at the Sielenburg—until you are married.” - -“And whom am I going to marry?” - -“That will take care of itself. You will not lack suitors, now that you -are a brilliant match. You would bring your husband several landed -estates, a palace, and a considerable sum of money. Your choice must -fall on a solid, sensible man who understands the careful management of -property. I could suggest one to you, but it is premature to talk about -it as yet. But in the mean time we shall keep up the establishment, have -some great hunting-parties, and the right person will come at the right -moment. Of course, for the present we shall live secluded—you see we -shall be in mourning for a year, and it would not do at all to go into -society during these twelve months. But you can utilize the time by -trying to cultivate good manners. You are so lacking in what is required -for the rank which you will take in our circle.... I will invite two -young nieces to come here as companions for you, and you can improve -your ways by observing how they behave, and then you can obtain from -them good sound ideas—the dear girls have been educated in the Sacré -Cœur Convent and are very religious and ‘_comme il faut_’ in their -opinions. Yet at the same time they are merry as becomes their age and -yours.... And if you wish to keep these rooms as yours, it will be all -right. Or, if you like, I can have prepared for you the apartments that -belonged to your mother and which have been unoccupied since her flight. -You need have no care concerning the housekeeping—in the first place, -you do not understand anything about it, and, besides, I have been in -charge of it for years. And naturally you know nothing about managing -the estate.... But we have an excellent intendant and Cousin Coriolan -will gladly have an eye to the direction of affairs and take charge of -the accounts. I will talk with Dr. Fixstern about the management of your -property—of course, you know nothing about that either, and so you need -not have any bother about all that. For your own little -expenditures—toilet, charities, and so forth—I will allow you suitable -pocket-money. Are you listening to me? You look so _distraite_.” - -“I? Oh, yes, I have heard you.” - -“Well, and what have you to say?” - -“I have nothing at all to say to-day. As you just remarked, it is too -soon. I must first collect my thoughts.” - -“Well, you need not think and worry. Experienced people are here to -relieve you. So we will talk no more about these things now—‘To-morrow -is another day.’ Adieu for now, and do not be too late in coming down to -dinner.” - -“I should like to be excused for to-night, aunt. I am going to bed very -shortly.” - -“That is a good idea; then I will have your dinner sent up to you. Have -a good night’s sleep and wake up to-morrow fresh and rested. You look so -scared—not at all like the lucky creature that you are; and do not -forget to fall on your knees and thank the good God for pouring out such -a blessing on you.” - -“Horrible!” exclaimed Franka aloud, as soon as she was alone. And then -she began to laugh. The humor of the thing had not escaped her. That -very morning the countess had said to her that, of course, her further -stay at the Sielenburg was not to be thought of, and now the old lady -was willing to let her stay “with her,” and would undertake the -management of her whole future—a future which lay before her so great, -so enigmatical, so full of power and magnificence—a future opening out -before such duties and possibilities. Again her mind turned to the as -yet unformulated germ of plans half-conceived—such as Aunt Adele, in her -narrow horizon, had never even dreamed. No, no, this proposed tyranny -must be shaken off as speedily and as decisively as possible. Franka -felt that she had the courage and the power to do so, although she was -alone. - -Alone in this _milieu_, yes; but she felt as if she had comradeship and -support in the world outside, in the hovering spirit of her father, in -the souls of those new men who were striving for lofty aims, in—how had -Chlodwig Helmer expressed it?—in community with all that is holy in the -eternal and the infinite.... All she needed was freedom, and this was -now brought to her by her wealth; also by the fact that no sort of -tradition or duty bound her to the environment in which it was planned -to asphyxiate and strangle her, if she could not tear herself away from -it. But she could and she would.... She was mistress of the Sielenburg, -and what was most precious to her—she was mistress of herself. - -The following morning she sent for Dr. Fixstern to come to her. She -asked him to explain to her once more her rights and her title in the -property. Then she told him of the Countess Schollendorf’s proposals and -of her own firm resolve not to accept them. She was greatly relieved to -find that Dr. Fixstern was not at all on the side of the countess, as -she had feared, but wholly on hers. He was righteously indignant at the -old lady’s presumption; and when Franka told him of her proposal to dole -out to the unrestricted possessor of millions a limited sum of -pocket-money he laughed heartily. - -The conference lasted some time. Franka had many questions to ask and -Dr. Fixstern had also many things to tell her, many explanations, much -good advice to give her. Only after the estate had been fully settled -would the exact amount of her fortune be known, but in the mean time she -would be able to get some idea of what she would have by glancing over -the inventory that he had with him; and he read to her the figures -representing the income and the payments which would have to be deducted -from it. Franka listened with increasing delight as she began to -comprehend what enormous wealth had fallen into her lap. The joyous -sensation of the discoverer of a treasure filled her heart. For the very -reason that she had gone through the school of poverty and deprivation, -she was now able to appreciate the value of riches, and she had already -got an inkling of the independence, the esteem, and the enjoyment which -her property was to vouchsafe her. - -At the same time, as a sort of absolution from the sin of pride in -possession, she cherished the consciousness that she should make use of -the power that had come to her for something noble and grand and daring. - -Franka expressed her desire to go that very winter to Vienna and take up -her residence in her palace. Dr. Fixstern entirely acquiesced, and -declared that he and his wife would do everything to aid her; he assured -her that she might depend upon him in every way; the long devotion which -he had showed to the late count he was ready now to show the -granddaughter. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - A SECOND ANONYMOUS MESSAGE - - -Chlodwig Helmer was writing the last act of his drama. He was well -satisfied with his work. But he knew how wide and perhaps impossible was -the gulf between the finishing of a theatrical piece and its production. -Yet even as it was, he felt his heart swell with that comfortable -sensation which every creative artist experiences when he succeeds in -clothing in definite form that which has hovered in his mind. - -Ever since Helmer had left the Sielenburg, he had occupied himself -exclusively with literary work. His dismissal had come to him very -unexpectedly. One morning Count Sielen had received him with these -words:— - -“My dear Helmer, I have something to say to you.... During the two years -since you have been with me, I have become very fond of you. You are a -fine, sensible fellow, you have irreproachable manners—I have no fault, -absolutely no fault to find with you and yet—do not be surprised—I am -giving you your congé.... Do not ask my reasons, but I give you my word -of honor that you are not to blame for my taking this step. As a proof -that I feel for you something more than good will, I am going to give -you recommendations as hearty as you could desire. You will secure a -place ten times better than this; and in order that you may have -opportunity to look about and to choose I am handing you a check for a -sum sufficient for you to live two years free from anxiety.... No, no! -do not protest: you must accept it out of love for me ... in order to -console me. It is painful enough for me to lose you.... In fact, I need -the services of a physician rather than of a secretary ... but I shall -miss you keenly, and I do not want to have the additional sorrow of -knowing that you are worried; it is not always easy to find a place and -you must not take the first that offers—in short, you dare not refuse to -do this favor for your old sick friend.” - -Helmer also had not found it easy to leave the count. A few days after -this peculiar notice and after a very affectionate leave-taking from the -old man, he departed from the castle of Sielenburg. He had no -opportunity to say good-bye to Franka: on the day of his departure she -had gone for a visit in the neighborhood with the Countess Adele. Better -so—the farewell would have been hard for him. And perhaps it was better, -on the whole, that he was going away, for he would otherwise have been -certain to fall desperately in love with the beautiful girl. Already he -felt that he had partly lost his heart to her—so it was best as it was. -He settled down in one of the suburbs of Vienna where he proposed to -devote himself to literary work for a time. Perhaps, if he should -succeed, he might exclusively follow this career. - -He took up his abode in a villa situated amid green vegetation. He had -easy access to his beloved forest; if he desired to go to the city it -was a short and speedy trip by the cars. There he frequently visited his -boyhood friend, Baron Franz Bruning—the one to whom he wrote the long -letter from the Sielenburg and who now had a Government position. Not -that Helmer found any especial enjoyment in this intercourse. The -character and nature of his early playmate had developed in a direction -which was simply uncongenial to him. But old associations always form a -bond not easily broken. He also associated with a few young people in -literary and artistic circles. Nevertheless, he rarely, at most only -twice a week, went to town; for his work kept him fast in his voluntary -isolation. - - -“Curtain!” Now the last scene of the drama was completed and he wrote -the word “Curtain” with a joyful sigh of relief. He was startled from -the agreeable relaxation of the moment by a knock at the door. He -shouted, “Come in!” and there entered a very elegantly dressed man of -medium stature with a highly colored, full-moon face adorned with a tiny -black mustache. - -“Ah, is it you, Franz?” - -“Yes, I had to hunt you down in your den—if for nothing else, to talk -with you about the astonishing news.” - -“What news?” - -“Give me a cigar first. Thanks! I mean the news from Sielenburg.” - -“I know nothing about it.” - -“Do not you read your paper, man alive?” - -“I confess I have been so busy the last few days with my work that I -have scarcely glanced at the papers.” - -“And you did not know that the old count is dead?” - -“Dead!” exclaimed Chlodwig, in a tone of genuine concern. “How? When?” - -“A few days ago—and his granddaughter, Miss Franka, whom you admired so -much, is left universal legatee.... She seems to have succeeded in -making good.... Have not you a chance there? She would be a match!” - -Chlodwig was dumb with astonishment. He was, indeed, glad that such a -piece of extraordinary good fortune had befallen the charming young -lady; but one thing he contemplated with horror—the crowd of -fortune-hunters that would surround her. - -“If you had been a foxy fellow,” pursued the other, “you would have -turned the girl’s head—but, of course, you could not have foreseen what -was to happen to her.” - -Without paying any attention to these observations, which seemed to him -forced in their humor, Chlodwig said:— - -“This news moves me deeply ... the poor count ... and the -granddaughter ... a remarkable romance!... Where did you read all this?” - -“In the ‘Presse’; three days ago the report of the count’s death, and -this morning, the will.” - -Chlodwig glanced through the papers lying on his table and found the -paragraphs. - -“Are you not going to condole with the orphan so cruelly robbed of her -grandpapa?” - -Chlodwig shrugged his shoulders. Bruning’s tone was particularly -disagreeable to him to-day. - -Franz stood up. “But I must look around a little ... you are charmingly -situated.... What a view out over the open....” - -From the window he went to the bookcases. - -“Look! look!—what a swarm of poets: Stefan George, Hofmannsthal, Dehmel, -Liliencron, Swinburne, Rostand... Verses, verses, verses.... Well, as -you yourself are a poet, of course you must wade through them all.... I -cannot read more than two lines of rhyme at one fell swoop ... -everything exaggerated goes against my very soul ... a hundred, or say -fifty, years ago, in the romantic epoch, such things were at least -permissible; in these days all this seems false to our prosaic world, -which is avid of money and power, and it finds no echo. To win the -battle, one must force one’s way through with one’s elbows. As far as I -am concerned, one may indulge in a little wooing and cooing, but no -romances.... And what have you there! Technical journals about airships -and the technic of aviation? Does that interest you? I can understand -that. The thing can be taken in earnest: a new sport, a new weapon, a -new industry....” - -“Nothing else?” - -“Well, yes; also new regulations for insurance against aviation -accidents.” - -He continued to rummage through the book-shelves—“Oh, yes, you have the -novels of aerial warfare: Sand, Martin, Wells ... those are mere -phantasmagorias. One must stick to the truth. One must learn to know and -to despise men and things as they are—then can one best conquer them and -make them useful.... But I see that you are not in the mood to discuss -to-day: you are generally ready to go off half-cocked when I let some of -my knowledge of the world shine upon you.” - -“Shine?—Your pessimism has about as much shine in it as a pair of -snuffers ... and snuffers, you know, are things not used in our day: -they were good enough for tallow candles, but not for electric lamps and -search-lights.” - -“Now I recognize you again, you incorrigible poet—truly I can find no -harsher expression. You will be breaking your dainty wings bravely in -our rough reality, you—there now, I have invented still another -insult—you cloud-dweller! But I will no longer beard you in your own -den ... besides, I have no time—you live horribly far away from the -boundaries of civilization. Let us see you before long....” - -When he was left alone, Chlodwig sat down again at his writing-table and -attempted to read over the last act of his just-completed drama, in -order to put in some last touches. But he could not fix his mind on it. -His thoughts kept flying to the old count’s deathbed and to the -remarkable vicissitude in Franka’s fate. He felt impelled to speak to -her, and so he took a sheet of paper and began to write without being -certain whether he should send the letter or not. - - - Mistress of the Sielenburg, I salute you! - - This time you have not appeared to me in a dream, but you are vividly - visible before my inward eye. For I have just heard what has happened - to you, and I see you surrounded by a thousand perils and by as - many—what is the opposite of perils?—I cannot find the right - expression.... Well, as perils signify threatening misfortune, so here - I mean “beckoning felicity.” - - In my previous letter I mentioned things which in gloomy days and ways - might offer shelter and refuge in sorrow and poverty—things whereby - one may win the power to rise above one’s self. Now you are - rich—superlatively rich. You can command everything that belongs among - the so-called “amenities” of life: you are protected against cares and - privations and humiliations. With your wealth you can escape - innumerable forms of suffering; whether you can purchase the highest - forms of enjoyment and pride in life—depends on the strength of your - spirit. - - Against the peril of wealth I suggest the same talisman as was - contained in my former letter—to elevate yourself above yourself—to - take hold on the life of the universe, on the efforts of humanity. The - peril for the rich is in being drawn down into the abyss of - the—ordinary. The banal duties of luxury waste time and stupefy the - intellect. The attempt will be made by pleasure-seekers and - pride-cankered people to whirl you away into social dissipations; - smart hussars and dragoons will besiege you in order, by securing your - hand, to get possession of estates where they can enjoy hunting and - horse-racing, tennis and automobiling, bridge and flirting, and, if - they chance to be aristocrats, will make you feel it bitterly that you - are not presentable at court. - - Yet I know well that life is so full of the unexpected, the - uncalculated, and the marvelous, that such general warnings, such - sermonizing, sounding as they do rather perfunctory, perhaps will find - no application to what is before you. But I could not endure that you - should be shunted over on that track where the society that surrounds - you runs along empty of all lofty aims and deaf and blind to the - mighty changes that are in preparation.... - - I do not believe that the generation of our day has the time to run - the cars of tradition over the rails of convention to the very end. - There are ominous signs flashing along the horizon. New and unheard-of - events are coming to pass—and soon! And they do not need come by a - revolution. That also is an ancient and probably antiquated form of - transformation. Quite new forms may make their appearance. It may be - that the flashing yonder does not portend a tempest; perhaps it is - only the twilight of a rising sun—a sun which none of us has seen as - yet, for we are still only children of Barbarism’s polar night which - has lasted hundreds,—nay, not merely hundreds but thousands of years. - I want to see you, Franka, among the heralds of the coming light, - among those who are storming the cloudy walls behind which it is still - concealed. - - Do not believe that, because you are a woman and young and beautiful, - such a part is not cast for you. The new day offers women also the - right of fighting in the ranks,—or rather they are winning it for - themselves,—and assuredly the old sagas gave them spears and - shields—the Valkyrie also are young and beautiful—Hojo-to-ho! Heia-ha! - Franka, become great, or at least will something great! - - Mankind to-day—but so few realize it—stands at a turning-point more - decisive than any in its previous history. This has often been said - before—all the instigators of any political or scientific revolution - have been accustomed to close their manifestoes with the ringing - words: “A new era is beginning”; and yet things remained exactly as - they were before. But now:—the mystery of the air—the uplift to the - heights—that is going to change everything, everything that now goes - under the name of civilization. This will make the distinction between - the coming epoch and the present, one sharper than between any of the - so-called epochs of history. Aye, everything, everything is to be - changed, and in a tempo which will be related to the changes of - earlier times somewhat as an electric locomotive compares with a - pedestrian’s gait, or as a hurricane whirling up waterspouts compares - with a summer breeze crinkling the surface of a pond. We shall not be - able to stand against such a tempest. We shall be either borne upon - its wings, or swept away by it. - - A friend has just been scolding me as a “Poet,” because I have the - fault of using figures of speech and have the—to him—much worse fault - of being an optimist. Do not be deceived by this, Franka. I am not - unreasonable. It requires a far keener sense to perceive the aroma of - beauty and goodness which penetrates the atmosphere of our lives than - it does to behold only the harsh and hateful, or else to see it, even - where it is not present.... - - I cannot bring this letter to a close, so I will simply stop.... - - -That morning Franka received a very abundant mail, consisting of -congratulations and letters of fealty from the various persons employed -on the other estates that had become hers, begging letters of the most -extraordinary pretensions from unknown persons, offers of commodities -from all kinds of business houses; and among all the weeds one fresh -bouquet—Chlodwig Helmer’s second message to her. - -She read the letter and read it again, and it gave her pleasure. What -had hovered dimly before her inward vision—to dedicate her wealth to -some great and noble purpose—was now put before her as a command: “Be, -or at least _will_, something great.” So then, there was one person who -felt that she was capable of forming such a purpose and of carrying it -out; and it was the same person whose ideas so completely coincided with -her dear father’s. She determined to take the advice of Chlodwig -Helmer,—for she had no doubt that he was the writer of the unsigned -letter,—and to ask him what he considered the great work which she -should go forth, armed with spear and shield, to accomplish.... Aye, it -was true, he was rather inclined to speak metaphorically, but behind his -metaphors there must be something actual and comprehensible:—he must -tell her and answer her questions. - -In the mean time, the letter served to confirm her in her as yet -unformulated aspirations. First of all, she must escape from the nets -and bonds which her great-aunt was anxious to throw around her. Up to -the present time she had postponed making any explanation; now -Chlodwig’s letter gave her the impulse to declare her independence that -very day. She was certain of Dr. Fixstern’s practical coöperation. - -When at luncheon-time she entered the small dining-room where the -household were all assembled, she asked her aunt to grant her an -interview as soon as they had finished the meal. - -“That will be perfectly convenient,” replied Aunt Adele. “I also have a -number of things that I want to say to you, and we must have a perfectly -clear understanding regarding those things which we recently talked -about.” - -They took their places at table. It was only a small company. The -relatives that had come from a distance had taken their departure. Dr. -Fixstern also had gone to Vienna, and only Miss Albertine, Cousin -Coriolan, and the domestic chaplain were present besides Franka and the -countess. So far, the affairs of the household had gone on without -alteration—Countess Adele held the reins, and no instructions were asked -from Franka. - -Winter had set in. The trees were leafless and the first fires were -lighted. - -“We shall soon have snow,” remarked Coriolan. “Oh, how gay it used to be -here in years gone by at this time of the year.... We always had great -hunting-parties ... a thousand hares on one day and often twenty or -thirty guests at the hunting-dinner—and then a famous _jeu_ till late at -night. Listen, Franka, next year you must certainly give a -hunting-party....” - -“I will look out for that,” remarked Countess Adele; “we shall keep up -to the traditions of the Sielenburg. The Sielenburg Hunts were famous -all over the country. So they were at our other estates.” - -“Yes, the late count—blessed be his memory—was very fond of hunting on -his estate in Carinthia,” said the reverend father; “there’s a splendid -run for stags.” - -“We let it this year,” said the countess. - -“Not to any manufacturer or Budapest Jew, I hope?” exclaimed Cousin -Coriolan. “I’d rather have the game run wild all over the forest than -permit unsuitable persons to hunt on a preserve,—and big game, too,—so -that brokers might put up a sixteen-horned stag in their offices where -they speculate over futures in the grain-market.” - -“Since you are talking about grain, Herr Baron,” said the reverend -father, “the price of flour has gone up again and so have meat and milk. -The poor people, especially in the cities, will soon be unable to exist. -You will have an opportunity, Miss Franka, to practice charity. Truly, -there is much poverty and the rising cost of provisions....” - -“Who is at fault?” interrupted Coriolan. “The low classes no longer know -what they ought to want. They want to have theaters and concerts, and -there are always agitators who stir them up to discontent—unscrupulous -people—the so-called leaders, always from the circle of the -intellectuals, as the Freemasons and Jews like to call themselves. If -some radical way is not adopted to put an end to this mob, I am in favor -of driving them out, since it is against the law to shoot them down....” - -“But, Baron,” said the reverend father soothingly, “that would be rather -too drastic. The working-people are quite right in their desire to -better their condition!” - -“What is that?—‘better their condition’—believe me, your reverence, in -the old days they were all far more content, the artisans as well as the -peasants. My father and my grandfather always used to tell how much -better things were before 1848 than they are now. The common people were -under the protection of the nobles ... they were happy and satisfied and -industrious, and they had no thought of the foolish nonsense which is -now preached to them—equal rights and the like. They were far happier, -indeed, they were. Moreover, times are growing worse and worse. A firm -government must take a hand and lock up these pestilential babblers on -the Franzensring—the Minister-President ought....” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon, Coriolan, don’t begin to talk politics again,” -exclaimed Miss Albertine. “It is almost rude to do so in the presence of -ladies. You know we are not interested in such things, because we don’t -understand them at all, and we don’t want to understand them.” - -“I am talking with the chaplain ... you are at liberty to talk about -your own feminine trash....” - -“Feminine trash, indeed! How coarse you are! I must tell you frankly -that your manners often are very objectionable! Do not be offended with -me, but I make the observation for your own best good.” - -After luncheon Countess Schollendorf invited Franka to accompany her to -her room. - -“Here we shall be quite undisturbed.... There ... now tell me what you -have to say.” - -She had sunk down on her little sofa, near which stood a small -work-table. She took up her knitting, for she was assiduous in her -endeavors to provide the village children with knitted or crocheted caps -and underwear. Franka took her seat in an armchair at the other side of -the table. She was visibly agitated. Her mourning-gown accentuated the -pallor of her face, and her mouth trembled slightly. It was not so easy -for her to speak what was on her mind. To be sure, she had for several -days gone over what she intended to say, and her intention was unshaken, -but now, when the moment had come, she felt a certain awkwardness. - -“Now let us have it. What is the matter with you? You look quite -disturbed, and at table you did not speak a word ... are you not quite -well? You look very pale. The way you dress your hair is not becoming to -you ... you must have it done in some other way. When one has such a -head of hair one should wear it in braids, otherwise it looks -disheveled.” - -“What I want to say to you, dear aunt, is this: I am going to Vienna -to-morrow and I intend to take up my residence in my house on the Wieden -and manage my own housekeeping. I shall take of the servants here only -my maid; the rest may stay on with you, as I am going to leave you in -charge of the Sielenburg so that you may manage it as long as you wish, -just as you have done.” - -Countess Schollendorf dropped the red woolen jacket with its one -completed sleeve into her lap. She was speechless. - -Franka, whose courage was gradually coming back, continued:— - -“The administration of my property I am putting into the hands of Dr. -Fixstern, who has always enjoyed my grandfather’s perfect confidence, -and who made only one condition, that I should select a second assistant -to share with him the labor and responsibility of this function.” - -“What does all this mean? Have you lost your wits? I do not understand -you ... you propose to go to Vienna ... well, as far as I am concerned, -I can go there perfectly well. The winter here is very gloomy. But, of -course, this year I cannot take you out into society, for we are both in -mourning. We should naturally take the servants with us—the cook and the -coachman; then only the castellan and a couple of housemaids would stay -here ... but leave all that to me.” - -“Excuse me, aunt. You did not understand me. I have invited you to -consider the Sielenburg as your home.” - -“You—... me? ... invited?” - -“Yes, for I intend to keep house in Vienna myself and be my own -mistress.” - -“You are going to live alone ... you? A young thing like you ... it is -scandalous!” - -“I am of age and perfectly independent, and I know how to manage my own -life in such a way that no one will ever dare to apply the word -‘scandalous’ to me.” - -“What audacious language!” - -“I will speak with perfect frankness. I propose to take charge of my own -destiny. You lately explained to me that I was to accept from your hands -a husband, a couple of lady friends, and also a little pocket-money ... -but I intend to choose my own husband or not marry at all; and as to my -friends I shall be able to find them among those who have been brought -up as I was and who think as I think. If we two should remain together, -dear aunt, there would be an endless unprofitable battle. You would -always be striving to remodel me, to educate me, to lay down all kinds -of restrictions, and to enforce all sorts of commands; and I, on my -side, should try to resist this whole guardianship, to escape from -it,—and you would be vexed with me all the time,—in short, it would be -for both of us a life of bitterness. The separation cannot be painful to -either of us, for I was not brought up here—I belong to another world of -ideas, I have quite another view of life. We have lived together for -only six months, and in that time neither of us has taken to the other; -very often you have been annoyed with me, and likewise my whole nature -has revolted against the attempted domineering. In spite of our -relationship, we are still strangers. As for the respect due to the -sister of my generous beloved grandfather, I shall certainly never fail -in that....” - -“You call this respect? I call it unheard-of impudence.” - -“You see how little we understand each other.” - -“I shall certainly not remain in Sielenburg if you arrogate to yourself -the claim of being the mistress and allow me to stay here as a favor.” - -“I am not arrogating....” She stopped. - -“You mean, you are the mistress, and I am your guest? Thank you most -humbly.” - -“No, aunt. I certainly said the Sielenburg should be your home with all -that it contains and all that appertains to it, and I am ready to grant -you the use of it as long as you live—I mean for unrestricted use, that -is to say, with all the revenues that belong to it ... by legal -contract.” - -The old lady hesitated. That was an attractive offer. For Franka herself -she cared very little. Only a short time before she had, so to speak, -proposed to expel her from the Sielenburg. She took up her knitting -again and mechanically took a few stitches. - -“We will think it over,” she said after a while. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - FRANKA’S SALON - - -With the aid of Dr. Fixstern and his wife, Franka had established -herself in the Vienna palace, having made first in the company of the -doctor a trip to Lower Austria and Carinthia for the purpose of -acquainting herself with her two other estates. The castles there were -fully as sumptuous and seigneurial as Castle Sielenburg, even if not so -comfortable and homelike, and the reason for this was that its owners -had always preferred Schloss Sielenburg, while Grossmarkendorf and -Hochberg generally stood empty. The lands and industries belonging to -them were profitably rented, so that their administration would not -occasion any care to the possessor. The fixed revenues were to be -collected by the agent and by him turned over to her. When Dr. Fixstern -informed her of the amount of the income, she had to suppress a cry of -astonishment: so rich, so unboundedly rich she was now! - -“I must deserve it—I must be worthy of this unheard-of good fortune—if I -only knew how!” - -She did not say that aloud. It was like a secret burden of indebtedness -which she had to carry around with her. It would have to be paid—that -was absolutely certain. Meantime, during this journey through her -domains, she gave herself up to the irresistibly joyful pride which the -thought, “mine, mine,” is wont to arouse in any heart. - -She found the Vienna palace in perfect order; only a few slight -alterations and refurnishings were necessary to render comfortable and -tasteful her own suite of rooms. The domestics comprised the major-domo, -who had been connected with the establishment for ten years, and his -wife, who was installed as housekeeper. Franka had brought her own maid -from the Sielenburg. The other servants were new people. Franka had also -engaged a companion. Her name was Eleonore von Rockhaus, the daughter of -a naval officer and the widow of a consul. She had seen much of the -world, and was a perfect lady. Her age was about forty-five. Her hair -was just beginning to turn gray, but she had a youthfully elastic -figure, and delicate, friendly features; she was well read, almost an -artist on the piano, an absolute mistress of French and English;—in -short, she was a jewel of a companion and chaperon. Perhaps also she -would prove to be a genuine friend, but as to that the future would -tell. Provisionally, the two ladies were somewhat reserved in their -intercourse ... first of all, they had to learn to know each other. - -Franka did not open her heart to Eleonore von Rockhaus. What was -beginning to become a fixed idea—that the wealth lavished upon her as by -a gift of good fairies must be spent for some great purpose, that she -herself must labor with her whole soul, with all her energies, with all -her gifts of body and mind, so as to confer upon the world some -advantage, some great blessing—this dream, as yet vague and -unformulated, she did not confide to her companion. First she herself -must go through a novitiate; in other words, test herself, acquire more -knowledge, look about her, clarify her thoughts. She intended to -question Helmer as to what reality there was behind the visions which he -outlined in his letters. Yet even this she postponed. First she desired -to gain some experience from intercourse with prominent men and women. -To this end Dr. Fixstern might be useful to her. As a highly respected -lawyer, he had a wide circle of acquaintances, among them scientists, -artists, statesmen, and could bring the most interesting of them into -the Garlett palace. As for “Society,” Franka had no ambition at all. -During the first year of mourning, following her grandfather’s death, -that, as well as attendance at concerts and theaters, would naturally be -out of question; but besides, she felt no desire for it: she knew that -it might divert her from the serious sacred duties to which she had -consecrated herself, although without having as yet settled in her own -mind what they should be. - - -It was four o’clock in the afternoon. The two ladies had come in from -their daily walk in the Prater and were sitting in the little salon. A -cheering warmth and a rosy glow radiated from the gas-log; the electric -lights had not been turned on. It was pleasanter to rest and chat in the -twilight. - -“It is delicious here,” said Frau von Rockhaus, leaning back in the -comfortable armchair. “I look forward with dismay to the time, probably -not very distant, when you will be getting married and will no longer -need me.” - -“I am not contemplating being married—at least, not for some time -yet.... I like my freedom. Were you happy in your marriage, Frau -Eleonore?” - -“Not so very. My husband played me false with the most exotic women. -Besides, he was quarrelsome and very arbitrary. And yet, I liked him -well enough. That was unfortunate, because for that very reason I was -tormented with jealousy and suffered from his stern and cold behavior.” - -“That seems to me the most terrible thing: an unloving or an unloved -husband. I would only marry when I was certain that I loved the man with -my whole heart, only when I knew that he was not after my money—but how -can one know that? And then, besides, I cannot possibly marry yet -awhile: I must remain my own mistress in order to accomplish a certain -task.” - -“A task? What?” - -“Oh, no matter—I am not talking about it as yet.” - -“The first and most important duty which a person, especially a young -and pretty girl, has to fulfill is to be happy. Besides, what can a -woman undertake and accomplish by herself? Of course, if we lived in -England, you might become a Suffragette or join the Salvation Army, but -here in Vienna? There would be a chance for you to join one of the -ladies’ committees in some charity organization, or to meander down into -the slums and distribute harmless gifts, or catechise the children of -the suburbs; our circle of activities is so narrow! Only indirectly can -we acquire any influence in public affairs, or even help direct the -course of history—I mean when we exert power over some powerful man!” - -“And what profitable work can this influential individual do, according -to your idea?” - -“Heavens! that I can’t tell. Commonly she will have to secure high -positions for her friends or....” - -“Certainly,” interrupted Franka; “commonly one does the common thing. -But I am thinking of something different.... Play to me, Frau Eleonore; -it is so lovely to hear music in the twilight.” - -Frau von Rockhaus went to the grand piano. “What shall it be? Also -something out of the ordinary?” - -“Yes, ‘Isoldens Liebestod,’ please.” - -A moment later the sweet, passion-swept chords were floating through the -room. Franka closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. What she felt was a -sort of anguish, for it was a longing, and, to tell the truth, a longing -not for something out of the ordinary, but for the simplest and most -commonplace thing which even the simplest and most commonplace maiden -heart desires—Love! Yet what kind of a person must he be, should she -ever meet him—the man who should be her Tristan? - -She roused herself from her dreaming. “No, no,” she said to herself as -she had just said aloud: “I must remain my own mistress.” - -Indeed, there was not a single young man in her whole circle of -acquaintance to whom she felt drawn, and, besides, she had no business -to be wishing and seeking for such a one ... all her thoughts and -feelings must be concentrated on the task that hovered before her. - -The servant announced a caller. Frau Eleonore left the piano and turned -on the electric lights. A second visitor followed the first, and then a -third, and, before long, a little circle was gathered around Franka. Dr. -Fixstern had brought to her a number of distinguished personages, just -as she had wished—people who either had written successful books, or had -played leading parts in parliament, or had delivered popular courses of -lectures at the university, or who were famous as artists. There were -also a few ministers of state and foreign diplomats. In short, Franka -had good reason to expect that the conversation in her drawing-room -would be most lively and interesting: discussions of learned topics, -alternating with witty anecdotes and edifying observations. Yet she was -gradually led to discover that the conversational capacity of society -does not reach such a high level. Occasionally, indeed, stirring talk -may occur in a salon, but only about as frequently as oases in a desert; -the average conversation consists of sand and simooms, for even choice -spirits sink down to the banal ground of ordinary topics, especially -when in a larger circle of merely casual acquaintances: the weather, the -latest theatrical gossip, the sensational news sprung in the morning -papers, mingled with still tamer questions and comments on health, -projects of travel, and the like. And then it is impossible to form a -circle of nothing but prominent people. There will always be an -intermixture of cordially futile Nobodies. One cannot post on the front -door the notice: “Admittance only for Somebodies!” - -Now this afternoon the talk began to take a very interesting direction. - -A distinguished dramatic author was telling about certain foreign -colleagues whom he had met during a summer journey, and he was relating -in his cleverest way characteristic anecdotes about their peculiarities. -But first he was to describe the individuality of the most original of -the present day—Bernard Shaw. He was interrupted by the arrival of new -callers: Miss Albertine von Beck and the Baroness Rinski. - -Not very agreeably surprised, Franka went to meet the new guests. - -“You, dear Aunt Albertine?” - -“I came to Vienna for a few days, and so of course I came to see you, -and I am bringing with me a friend who is very desirous of making your -acquaintance.” - -The Baroness Rinski was a little elderly lady of unprepossessing -appearance. Her name was not unknown to Franka; she had frequently seen -it in the social columns of the papers among the personages who stand at -the head of various charitable organizations. - -“I begged my friend to bring me to you, my dear Miss Garlett, as I place -great hopes on your aid.” - -“If I had known that you were entertaining so many this afternoon,” said -Albertine, “we should have come at another hour. I also have a message -from Aunt Adele. But you do not look particularly well,” she added in -her most benevolent tone of voice. - -“Please, come with me, aunt, and you also, Baroness,—here we can talk -undisturbed”; and she led the two ladies to the remotest end of the -salon. This seemed preferable to introducing the two ladies into the -circle of the others; they could continue listening to the revelations -concerning Bernard Shaw while she sacrificed herself to her new -visitors. She certainly felt that she was a martyr as she sat down with -the two and tried to be gracious. - -“Well, what word did my great-aunt send to me?” - -“She sends you her greeting. I think she is a very good woman—she no -longer seems to be offended with you.” - -“But why should she be offended with me?” - -“Well, if you will permit me to say so—for the way you got rid of us -all.... But we will not talk about that now. Adele wanted me to tell you -that you must come and visit her at Sielenburg—it would please her.” - -“Thank you. Perhaps I will, next spring.” And, turning to the baroness, -she said: “What do you wish I should help you about, Baroness?” - -“You must not disappoint her, Franka,” suggested Albertine. “If you do -what the Baroness Rinski is going to ask you, it will be for your own -great advantage. You need something to occupy you and give you some -object in life, something that will turn your great property to a good -purpose.” - -Franka concealed her vexation. She had thought that she was going to rid -herself entirely of the Sielenburg protectorate, and now it was cropping -up again. She could easily imagine what secret design the Baroness -Rinski cherished. She had no objection to devoting large sums to -charitable ends and she had already done much in that direction; yet on -this score she preferred to act in accordance with her own judgment and -her own impulse, and not after the prescription of others, and she -certainly did not wish to be drawn into the game of charity as she -happened to know it was played by the baroness. As a student of social -economic literature under the wise direction of her father, she had won -too deep an insight into the causes and the ramifications of human -misery, not to know that if she spent her whole property in alms, it -would be only a drop on a hot stone. The lever must be applied in a very -different place, in order to eradicate the evil. - -The little baroness took a few printed documents out of her hand-bag. -“See, my dear young lady, here are the yearly reports of various -societies on whose boards I serve.” And she began with great volubility -to describe the blessings afforded by these associations for the rescue -of babies, the protection of the young, the guardianship of -maidservants, and the care of elderly persons; and she wanted Franka to -enroll herself as a patroness and undertake the office of president of a -new society for providing food for needy school-children. - -“There is nothing,” she said in conclusion, “nothing which can better -build a golden stair up to heaven than beneficence. And even here below -one gains recognition by it; and even if one does not belong to high -society, it affords an opportunity to meet with ladies of high standing, -and one may even expect to obtain the ‘Elizabeth Order’ of the third -class.” - -Franka laughed and shook her head. “I am afraid that there is danger of -slipping off the heavenly stairs if one has at the same time an eye for -such earthly things. However, Baroness, send me the subscription-list of -your associations—I will gladly put my name down according to my -ability, but I will not accept any offices.” - -“Oh, I hope that I shall be able to change your mind.” - -Visitors taking their leave and the arrival of others, whose names were -announced, rescued Franka. She was obliged to get up and abandon her -place between the two ladies in order to devote herself to the departing -and to the new-coming guests. The Baroness Rinski put her documents back -into the bag: “Come, Albertine, we will call on your niece at another -time, when she is alone. Let us say good-bye now.” - -Franka made no effort to detain them and accompanied them to the door. -“Well, I shall look for the lists.” - -In the mean time the dramatic author had concluded his interesting -anecdotes about the brilliant British author, and the conversation had -become general, and was turning on the most unfortunate of all subjects: -Austrian politics; the German-Bohemian linguistic disputes, Hungarian -confusions and disorders, trade compacts and frontier obstructions, new -tariffs and increased prices, and all in a tone of complaint and -lamentation, such as is generally used when great calamities or great -crimes are discussed, as if the whole activity of the municipality, of -the Parliament, and of the State consisted in accomplishing as much harm -and causing as much discontent as possible. Franka said to herself: “If -Cousin Coriolan were present, he would know of two simple means of -relief: to expel the Jews and establish absolutism.” - -“Yes, you see, gentlemen and ladies,” said a little stout man with -shining eyeglasses and equally shining forehead which extended over to -the back of his neck, “this is the way things stand....” - -The others listened excitedly, for the speaker was a highly respected -publicist, who, as was well known, enjoyed the confidence of influential -political circles—in other words, of the ministers of internal and -external affairs. - -“We have reached a great crisis in the history of our country. -Everything which you have been lamenting and criticizing is in reality -in a very wretched condition. The dissensions among the nationalities, -the passion for independence on the part of the Transleithan population, -the dangers from the Irredentists, the activities of the Socialists, the -quarrel over confession, and God knows what else—are things which make -it seem as if we were a thoroughly disunited and crumbling state; and so -many elements unfavorable to us or watching for our inheritance may be -supposed to be all ready to do us harm; and yet it has been already -proved by the crisis in the Balkans that we are nevertheless a proud, -brave, first-class power; proud of our strength and brave to the last -degree; and that all petty internal quarrels will disappear when -necessity arises to affirm ourselves against outside encroachments. Thus -we have compelled respect ... with our constituted power we have proved -that we can act, that we can take hold together, that we will not allow -ourselves to be moved by international tribunals and conferences, -because we are ready to defend our rights,—or, if you please, our ‘_bon -plaisir_’—with guns and ships. In presence of this resolute attitude, -all the intrigues weaving against us went to smash. It came near war, I -know that; the men on the General Staff were at fever heat to strike ... -the population was enthusiastic, ready for every sacrifice ... and -because our ally showed himself resolved to stand by us to the ultimate -consequences, but especially because we were so firm and energetic, we -won—and that, too, without drawing the sword. Now it is our duty to -solidify this position which we have acquired as a first-class power, if -possible to make it still stronger, still more unassailable—we must -build dreadnoughts. Perhaps this sounds harsh at a time when all sorts -of peace fads are taking possession of people, but of course only among -those who understand nothing of politics and its modernest phases, among -those who do not know that this phase is imperialism. Unscrupulousness -is the key to a strong policy. Self-consciousness and the development of -force—that is necessary if one is not to be crushed, if one is to have a -voice in the council of the nations.... But I beg the pardon of the -ladies, and particularly of our gracious hostess, for having touched on -a theme in which fortunately ladies are not interested. There is -scarcely anything more repulsive than women who meddle with politics.” - -Franka felt a sense of suffocation in her throat and a bitter taste in -her mouth. The tone and the spirit of the political speech to which she -had just listened were, indeed, detestable to her. She might have -contradicted what he said; for her father had been living at the time of -that crisis to which the imperialistic publicist referred, and he had -closely followed the course of events and talked with her about them. -She knew that the populace, during the hasty and secret mobilization, -was the opposite of enthusiastic; she knew that the war so eagerly -desired in high military circles was not allowed to break out for the -reason that the Emperor Franz Josef opposed it, that peace was -maintained—not from fear of the united bayonets of the central states, -but because the other powers desired to avoid a European war and by -continual yielding removed all the difficulties that pointed to an -ultimatum. Franka might have said all this, but she controlled herself -and replied:— - -“You need not ask pardon, Doctor; perfect freedom of thought and of -expression reigns here.” - -At this point some of those present took their departure, and after a -short time the rest followed, and Franka was left alone with her -companion. She felt depressed—a sense of loneliness and isolation and -unprotectedness overtook her, which is especially sad when it comes over -one not in actual solitude, but as the aftermath of social intercourse. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PLAN - - -The next day Franka asked Dr. Fixstern what had become of the ring that -her grandfather had left to Herr Helmer ... whether it had been as yet -delivered. Dr. Fixstern replied that the jewel was still in his -possession. - -“Then please give it to me and write Mr. Helmer to come here; I should -like to hand him his legacy myself.” - -A few days later, Franka chanced to be alone, Frau Eleonore having gone -out to make some purchases, and was again engaged in turning over the -leaves of her father’s notebooks, when Chlodwig Helmer was announced. - -“Miss Garlett, you sent for me?” - -“Yes, Mr. Helmer. I wanted to see you.... Will you not come nearer?... I -have something to put into your hands.” - -She went to her writing-table where the box with the ring was lying. -“You see, my grandfather intended this for you as a remembrance, and I -felt it important to deliver it to you myself.” - -Franka spoke with a rather unsteady voice, for she was conscious that -she was not speaking the absolute truth. She did not regard the personal -transfer of the ring as so important, and what had been the motive of -her summoning the young man had been the wish—it was almost a -longing—for his presence, as if she might find in him a refuge, a -support, a defense! He who cherished ideas very similar to those that -were expressed in those notebooks—he who had, so to speak, uttered his -command to do the “something great” for which her inmost being -yearned—he might be able to show her the way.... - -Helmer took the ring and put it on his finger. “This will always be a -doubly cherished remembrance—I had a very high regard for Count Sielen. -He was a dear man, a noble mind ... and that you, yourself, Fräulein -Franka...” he hesitated. - -“Come, let us sit down and talk about my grandfather. You knew him much -longer than I did.” - -The conversation stretched out for half an hour without Franka’s being -able to muster courage to direct it to the subject which was uppermost -in her mind. They talked about the late count, about the life at the -Sielenburg, about what had happened since that time, but not a word was -said about what both were thinking. Each was regarding and studying the -other as they talked, and each might have observed that their thoughts -were not on what they were saying. - -Franka’s eyes rested inquisitively on Chlodwig—had he written the -letters or not? His exterior appearance seemed changed; was he -unprepossessing? Had she ever really thought him so? And yet certainly -no one could call him handsome; his clean-shaven face was too lean, his -chin too long, his lips too thin; but if he was decidedly not handsome, -his features were certainly interesting. Franka also noticed something -which she had not observed at Sielenburg: Chlodwig had particularly -expressive hands—narrow, white, well cared for, not at all effeminately -soft—on the contrary, quite powerful; and everything which their -possessor said was emphasized by these hands with quick and peculiarly -vivacious gestures; these were aristocratic hands, full of character. - -Chlodwig also contemplated his companion. Franka seemed to him slightly -altered. The somewhat childlike expression which had formerly -characterized her features, and which even now came evanescently into -them when she smiled, had given way to a more serious and energetic -expression—she seemed to him more womanly, more mature. - -After half an hour Chlodwig got up: “I fear that I have stayed too long. -Accept my thanks again, Fräulein Franka, and permit me to say good-bye.” - -“No, no, sit down again; I have something else that I want to talk with -you about.” - -Helmer obeyed. A short pause ensued. - -Franka was trying to find the right words to begin with. Then with -sudden resolution: “Did you write me two letters?” - -Chlodwig’s cheeks grew red as fire. “Yes,” he answered. - -“I knew it.” - -“Forgive the form which....” - -“Never mind the form; the substance is important to me. You gave me some -advice—you almost laid down the law, and I should like to do what you -demand of me; only you must say what ... how! I must become great, at -least, attempt to do something great. What do you consider me capable of -doing? What do you consider great? Instead of vague words, I desire to -hear from you some definite, tangible, feasible scheme.” - -Chlodwig’s eyes beamed with delight. “Really, you will....” - -“Yes. An enormous property has fallen into my possession ... that -pledges me ... what ought I to do, what can I do, apart from so-called -charity?” - -“What can you do? In order to answer that, I must know you better, Miss -Franka; I must measure the flying capacity of your soul. The young girl -to whom I wrote was more a vision of my fancy than of my experience. -What do I know of your real nature, of your views, of your ideals, your -powers?” - -“I believe I have the same ideals as you have, Mr. Helmer; otherwise -your letters would not have awakened an echo in my soul—and as to my -views?” She took up from the table the notebooks in which she had just -been reading and handed them to Helmer. “Glance over these notes ... -they are extracts from the thoughts of my father and instructor, who -tried to form me after his own model. You will find ideas and -expressions like those in your own letters. And, look, these are my -favorite books.” She directed his attention to a book-rack which hung on -the wall behind her writing-table. “They came from my father’s library, -and they are the fountains from which he nourished my mind. My father’s -ideas and yours are in accordance—so, Chlodwig Helmer, in spirit we are -brother and sister....” - -At this moment Frau Eleonore entered the room without knocking. She had -several packages in her hands: “Here I am, dear Franka. Forgive me if I -was gone too long....” - -The two others both thought simultaneously, “Not long enough!” - -Franka introduced her caller. Frau Eleonore shook hands with him and -then began to undo her packages. “Please look, dear Franka, and see if -these are the right kind.” - -Helmer in the mean time was doing as he had been bidden: he glanced -through the notebooks and examined the volumes. Then he came back to -Franka and said:— - -“May I go now? As soon as you send me word, I will be at your service -again.” - -“And will you give me the answer which I desired just now? I mean that -concrete plan....” - -“Will you permit me, in the mean time to lay before you in writing, not -the whole plan, but only the sketch of it, in broad lines?” - -“As you please ... that will make the third letter in my collection. -Very good, then, I will expect the broad lines. The details afterwards, -by word of mouth. _Auf wiedersehen_, Herr Helmer!” - -“Who is that young man?” asked Frau Eleonore, after the door had closed -behind Chlodwig. - -“A signpost at the crossing of the ways.” - -“What? I did not understand you.” - -“It is not necessary.” - -“Not a suitor—I hope?” - -“No, God forfend!” - - -Franka was not kept waiting long for Chlodwig’s letter. She opened it -with eagerness and read:— - - - The third letter in the collection. So, then, it must be written in - the same tone as the first and the second—from soul to soul. I will - not begin with the formal “Gnädiges Fräulein” ... that expression we - will leave for verbal intercourse, but with “Franka” again, and the - confidential “Du.” We are brother and sister in spirit—you said so, - yourself. - - Now, then,—the plan in broad outline: you ought to be the proclaimer - of a women’s gospel—the field-marshal of a feminine crusade of - conquest. Mankind from now on is facing mighty tasks which it can - accomplish only when its two halves grasp and fulfill these tasks. - “All hands on deck” is the cry at sea at critical moments, and when - the ship “Mankind” is staggering on mountainous billows, then all - hands must be at their posts. My conviction that we are now, at this - very moment, at the beginning of a fateful revolution is founded on - the unheard-of marvel: a man can fly! His artificial wings have - conquered the tempest! His war-cry must henceforth be “Up and away!” - in all fields of activity. Active service in the heights devolves upon - him, and woman is not exempted from this duty of service. The - awakening call must rouse her also, and I look upon you as the one to - give the alarm. - - Perhaps you imagine that I am asking you to become a militant - feminist, to form a new Women’s Union and join your forces with the - already widespread, and to a certain extent successful, endeavors to - gain for women the right to play the same part in the academic and - political arena as men do. As a goal the doctor’s cap, public offices, - “Votes for Women.” This movement may go its own way. I have no notion - of putting any limit to it. But what I have in mind is something quite - different—the new woman is not to strive for the masculine positions - and functions in the State which we men have created for ourselves; - not the appropriation of those masculine qualities which are required - for the political game as we men play it; least of all, the attainment - of the privilege of libertinism, in accordance with which we men live; - but she is to help in the construction of a State, of a political - machine, of a manner of life, worthy of noble women sharing in it. - - To this end, in the first place, it behooves women not to stand aloof; - not to remain in ignorance of the machinery of the State, of the - complicated intrigues and hidden wires of politics, of the laws which - rule economic and social life. Secondly, they must cultivate to their - richest flowering the virtues that are regarded as specifically - feminine,—kindness, purity, tenderness,—so that when they enter public - life, this also may be permeated with those qualities. They will serve - an ethical State—they will practice ethical politics. They will then - be the most devoted colleagues to those men who even now are setting - up an ethical ideal for State and politics, and who are attacking the - firmly intrenched error, that State and politics stand on the other - side of morals,—a fatal error—for it is responsible for the condition - of ignorance, of enmity, and of barbarism from which poor humanity has - up to the present been suffering. To be sure, it has already made - considerable progress—though slowly—from that aboriginal barbarism; - the domain of security and solidarity has gradually been enlarged. But - this “gradually” can no longer satisfy us to-day, when the electric - spark can be flashed from the Eiffel Tower to the Statue of Liberty. - To crawl forward, to climb up—that no longer belongs to our age, now - that we have learned to mount on wings. Up yonder we need no winged - devils to scatter melinite on our habitations; our greatest haste is - to become human:—therefore, “All hands on deck!” Therefore, whoever - feels himself under a pledge to accomplish something great must - trumpet forth the alarm to awaken all the powers of reason and good - will that are still slumbering. - - And in what way, Franka, do I feel sure you are bound to summon your - sisters? By taking part in the Woman Movement? That I have already - answered in the negative. By means of a book? Alas! how few read - books! No, through the living word, through the magic, the magnetism, - of personality, the might of individual enthusiasm. I see you standing - on the platform, your “Walküren” fire under control of maidenly - dignity, worshipful as a priestess, glorified like a seeress.... - - Let me tell you: I was still a very young boy when I received a deep - and overpowering impression from such a priestly speaker, but who was - not a priest,—he was a soldier,—Moritz von Egidy, a Prussian colonel - of hussars. He had begun by writing a book, called “Earnest Thoughts,” - and at the same time they were free thoughts. That was not regarded as - compatible with discipline and he was obliged to resign from the army. - His leading motive was: “Religion not as a part of our life, but our - life as religion.” What he meant by religion was nothing dogmatic, - only ethical. He had attained that idea by earnest thoughts, and he - proposed to bring his contemporaries to a similar view by earnest - willing! In almost all the German cities he gave public addresses with - unexampled success. The largest halls in which he spoke were packed to - suffocation and thundered with sympathetic applause. - - The effect was tremendous. Soon Egidy congregations began to be - formed. But all too quickly he was struck down by death. What he - thought, what he preached,—never in an unctuous, clerical tone, but - with the military voice of command,—I need not tell you here. I only - wished to bring him up as an example—for such is the kind of work - which it seems to me you ought to undertake: teacher, leader, - prophetess, you must be! Unendingly rich can be the blessing flowing - from your activity. - - I imagine this influence as simply overpowering. You would be the - first and only person who ever came forward in such a way. Never - before was there a young maiden who attempted such a thing, and the - magic of youth and beauty will magnify tenfold the might of personal - magnetism. Your great property and your position in the world will - give you the opportunity of carrying out your scheme without any - material difficulty—you can engage the largest hall in every - city—entrance free to every one ... off the stage you will appear the - great lady that you are. - - Independent, beyond criticism, famous (you would be famous in the very - shortest time),—admired and honored, you would be able everywhere to - gather around you the heads of society and there use your influence. - You yourself would grow by your own work—the higher you try to fly, - the greater will be your ability to use your wings, and the traces of - your spirit will be visible in the moral progress of this generation - and of those to come. I do not say this to stimulate your ambition, - but to strengthen your spirit of sacrifice, for I know already that - your desire is to accomplish something noble, and to do that, you must - be prepared for many troubles and must renounce much. Like the Maid of - Orleans, you must crush your own impulses and desires under your coat - of mail. For if you should give your heart and hand to any man, it - would be all up with your independence. And, moreover, even if your - chosen one should admit of your independence, it would be all up with - the magic influence. For at least a decade you ought to devote - yourself entirely to your task. - - You cannot begin immediately, not to-morrow. You must have some time - for preparation, for growth, for study. A quiet novitiate before the - dedication; and because your position conditions your prestige, you - must first make your position solid. You must win the respect of high - society; you must win general admiration and consideration. At your - very first appearance on the platform, it must be known, to all the - city and to the world, that the person who is going to deliver the - lecture is the celebrated and beautiful young heiress of the Count - Sielen’s estates, honored because of her generous expenditures and - reputed to have refused many advantageous offers;—then the hall for - the very first time will be taken by storm. And in order that the - technical side be not neglected, you must have taken instruction in - the art of elocution, in the modulating of your voice. - - I have finished. I have really done more than lay down the outlines of - the plan—I have also indicated some of the details. - - Now you can test yourself; you can demand of your desires, of your - conscience, whether a way has been indicated and whether you will - follow it. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - FRANKA’S DÉBUT AND CAREER - - -Franka read the letter over a second and a third time—then she let it -sink into her lap and fell into deep thoughts. She was sitting alone in -her sleeping-room; on the table before her stood the breakfast-tray, and -beside it her mail, as yet untouched. In the stove a cheerful fire was -burning: the windows, through which could be seen the trees of the -garden behind the palace, were open and warm sunbeams came laughing in, -for it was already springtime. There was occasionally a cool breath of -air, full of that spring fragrance which does not come from violets, but -suggests violets. Such a breath fans in young hearts the fire of -longing—longing for the joys of life. - -Franka stood up, still holding the letter in her hand, and went to the -window. She looked down into the garden; it was not large, and behind -the still leafless trees could be seen the walls and roofs of the houses -beyond.... - -“How lovely it must be now in my parks and forests,” thought Franka. -Nothing would prevent her from journeying to them. A sense of pride in -possession and of joyous freedom swelled her heart. The world lay open -before her ... how easily, how freely might she not pluck all the -blossoms of enjoyment. But she flung these thoughts away from her. “To -accomplish something great”—that was her task, that was the aim, held up -as a command before her conscience, and now she had in her hands what -she wanted—a concrete programme, a definite way. - -There were men in the world—there was one man—who regarded her with -confidence and esteem, who had such a high idea of her that he believed -she might be an apostle, a leader ... oh, if that only might be, if only -she had the strength, the courage, and the fire to carry others along -with her, to lift them up! And like an electric shock there flashed -through her that lightning of the will which bears the name of resolve: -“Yes, I will do it!” - -She stepped from the window and stood in front of her great pier-glass -as if to strengthen her resolution by means of a vow spoken in presence -of herself. The mirror reflected a lovely picture. The tall, graceful, -maidenly figure, clasped in the folds of a soft, white cashmere -morning-gown, the head crowned by a heavy diadem of braids and proudly -thrown back, the cheeks brilliantly colored, the dark-red lips slightly -parted and showing the gleaming white teeth: so she stood for a little -while, and then she repeated the sentence aloud again: “Yes, I will do -it!” - -Franka went to her desk and wrote a line or two, then she rang for her -maid: “Send this dispatch immediately.” The telegram was addressed to -Chlodwig Helmer and ran: “I expect you to-day for a further talk.” - -Frau Eleonore entered the room: “Not yet dressed, dear Franka? And we -have such a busy day before us! Look—I have jotted everything down: at -eleven o’clock the betrothal-service of the Archduchess—we have cards -admitting us to the Augustiner Church; then Drecoll expects you to try -on three dresses—that will take at least two hours. There is the -reception of the eight lady artists at Pisco’s—you promised to go, and -we must be sure to see the exhibition of flowers at the Botanical -Society—to-day is the last day. It is also Baroness Rinski’s _jour_; -then....” - -“Shut up your notebook—I am not going out at all. I am expecting a -caller. All that you have told me seems to me so trivial, so trivial.... -Frau Eleonore, I am at the turning-point of my life....” - -“You are to be married!... I ought to have been prepared for it, but it -is a hard blow for me. - -“No. I am not to be married. Yet, would that affect you so?” - -“Of course, because you would not need my services any longer.” - -“I shall need you more than ever.... I want you to accompany me on my -journeys.” - -“What journeys?” - -“I will explain it all to you later. Meanwhile I will ask you to give -orders that I am at home to no one, absolutely no one, with the -exception of Mr. Helmer.” - -“That is an extraordinary order—what will your servants think. -Especially this Mr. Helmer.... I wanted to tell you, the other day, when -I found you tête-à-tête with him, that it is not at least very good form -for you to....” - -“Frau Eleonore,” interrupted Franka, “I look on you as my companion—a -very pleasant companion—who may very possibly become my friend—but not a -governess, please!” - -Frau Eleonore bit her lips. “Pardon me! Older people always believe -themselves justified in giving younger ones advice on the ground of -their experience—it is a bad habit.” - -It was late in the afternoon when Helmer was announced. He had been -away, and consequently had not received the telegram in time. Franka was -beginning to grow impatient. She sat in her little salon; Frau Eleonore -was reading to her from the evening paper, but Franka did not listen. If -only Chlodwig would come soon. - -When the footman announced her caller, her heart fluttered as if she -were expecting a lover. But she was not in love. Helmer seemed to her -only as the director of her future career; he was not only going to -point out the way, but also to make it smooth for her, support her first -steps. And then that kinship in ideas! Among all the strangers, among -these indifferent people in whose midst she had lived since her father’s -death, this was one person allied to her, a fellow-countryman from the -home region of her soul—actually a brother; and therefore her heart was -drawn toward him. - -“Ask him to come in,” said she to the footman; and then, turning to her -companion, she said: “Remain here, but please do not interrupt with a -word or a question while we are talking; later you will know all about -it.” - -Chlodwig entered. He also was inwardly much agitated. He had not -expected that Franka would so speedily accept his proposition. He was, -therefore, filled with pride and delight at the thought of it; and -beneath it all there was also a vague sense of being in love, yet -without passion and without expectation. When he first saw her, his -imagination had been somewhat kindled by her beauty, but never had he -gone to the extent of thinking that it was within the bounds of -possibility for him to win her; still less since she had become a -millionairess. And now that she desired to devote herself to the vestal -consecration of a great service, she seemed to him absolutely removed -from the domain of love and marriage. - -He drew nearer: “You sent for me, gnädiges Fräulein.” - -The presence of the stranger disturbed him. Franka noticed it. She asked -him to sit down. - -“We can talk without constraint. My friend must be initiated into all my -plans—she will accompany me on my _tournées_. And now, how am I to -begin?” - -Helmer paused to consider. “The first step,” he said after a little -while, “is the engagement of an elocution teacher. The technical side -must be conquered. After that one may get the mastery of the ideal side. -Frau von Rockhaus will get the notion,” said he, in a different tone of -voice, “that you are intending to go on the stage if she hears us -talking of _tournées_ and elocution masters. And yet how far, how high -above that, stands our plan! What you propose to accomplish is related -to the art of acting—however noble that may be—as the Zeppelin stands -above a wheelbarrow.” - -“Your thoughts move much in the upper regions of the air, Mr. Helmer.” - -“Yes, Miss Franka, the conquest of this element gave me the impulse to -my poetry and my aspirations, and this thought must also serve as the -foundation of your work.” - -“What is your poetry? What are your aspirations?” - -Helmer explained. His poetry was not to be understood merely in a -figurative sense; he was actually writing poetry! He told of the books -which he had already written and those which he had in mind to write. -Above all, the great epic “Pinions.” And as he in eloquent, fiery words -explained the meaning and purpose of this poem, and recited some of the -lines, out of these words a light fell on Franka as to the meaning of -the work which lay before her. The conversation lasted nearly two hours. -The plan was discussed alternately in its details and then in its great -outlines—lines lost in sublime distances, where to-day Franka’s -spiritual eyes for the first time penetrated. - -It had struck eight o’clock. Helmer was on the point of taking his -departure. - -“No, no,” cried Franka, “now you must have supper with -us—informally—just we three alone. Please, Frau Eleonore, you are -sitting near the bell, ring for supper to be served. You poor creature -must be all used up by silently listening to all these wonderful things. -You need something to strengthen you, and so do we two.” - -“Uff!” exclaimed Frau von Rockhaus as she touched the bell, and after -she had given the order to the servant, “Supper for three,” she again -uttered her “Uff!” adding, it was high time and ten minutes more had -turned her crazy. - -Franka laughed: “Did you understand what we were talking about?” - -“Well, yes, fairly well. Mr. Helmer wants to build a new flying-machine. -You are going to fly up into the air, and from up there deliver -addresses—and so you need to have lessons in declamation. You will not -touch upon the right of ‘Women to vote,’ but you will make the whole sex -mobile so that they can carry on their activities somewhere in the upper -regions. Then, there is to be a circuit through the German cities—or is -it through an epic in ten books?—tending to introduce a new -civilization; and the requisites for this simple scheme are as far as I -could make out—air-propellers, moral search-lights and a Valkyrie’s -horse.” - -Chlodwig laughed heartily, so heartily that Franka listened in surprise; -she had never heard him laugh so before. It sounded so merry, so boyish, -so entirely different from what might have been expected from that -serious man who had just been talking with her on the gravest of -world-problems—a man whom she had judged, particularly from his behavior -on the Sielenburg and from the tone of his letters, and also from the -thoughtful expression of his face, to be rather inclined to melancholy. - -Now all three were in the most cheerful mood, and during the little -supper not a word further was said about the serious plans for the -future; the jesting tone that had been hit upon was preserved -throughout; several times again, though more quietly, rang out Helmer’s -characteristic laugh with its golden ring of genuine merriment, and -Franka was filled with a sense of perfect ease and enjoyment, which was -doubly agreeable after the preceding strain of intellectual excitement; -at the same time she realized that her confidence in her brotherly young -friend was growing stronger—only a good, pure-minded man laughs like -that. - - -After ten months of industrious study, Franka felt prepared to begin her -career. She had also accepted Chlodwig’s advice to go through all the -books of which he had furnished a list; these brought her into touch -with the history and present condition of all the great questions -stirring the world, and she made him explain to her his standpoint in -these matters. - -The result of this period of study was not merely that she proved to be -a good pupil who had passed through her course creditably and was -capable of understanding and correctly rendering the ideas of other -people; but during this period of preparation a thousand original -thoughts had arisen in her mind and the material she had stored up put -out further blossoms; views, convictions, aspirations were gathered, -which grew so imperious that she felt inspired, nay, compelled, to share -them with others, to compel others to adopt them. What lay before her—at -least, so it seemed to her proud consciousness—was more than a great -duty—it was a mission. - -“A Word to Young Girls” was the title of her first lecture, and this -title was to be seen in gigantic letters on placards posted in every -nook and corner of Vienna. Above it was printed: “Great Music-Union -Hall, Sunday, January 15. Seven o’clock in the evening. Admission free.” -And below it: “Speaker: Franka Garlett.” - -The sensation in Vienna society was immense.... What! that pretty -Fräulein Garlett, Vienna’s richest heiress, she who had refused so many -offers of marriage, who had been so generous in her charities, who had -gathered about her so many of the distinguished men of the city, who had -won universal admiration for her charm of manner, her simplicity and her -loveliness—was she coming out as a public speaker? On what subject? Why? -People cudgeled their brains, and were somewhat scandalized at such a -thing! The idea was certainly quixotic! Was there no one in the noble -family of Sielen to put a stop to such an absurdity? And what was she -going to say to the young girls? Possibly preach emancipation? Advocate -a doctor’s career? Equal suffrage?—or perhaps—free love! Certainly these -things did not agree at all with her whole personality. But one must be -ready to expect anything from a person who suddenly comes out on the -platform—no one would ever have thought her capable of that! - -The public came in crowds. Helmer had seen to it that the lecture was -well advertised in the newspapers, and the fact that it came on a -Sunday, and was free, assured a large audience. The first two rows and a -few boxes were reserved for invited guests. - -Long before the stated hour, the hall was packed to overflowing and -the entrances had to be closed. Franka was waiting in the artists’ -room for the signal to begin. Frau Eleonore, Dr. Fixstern, and Helmer -were in attendance on her. Her cheeks were pale, for the terrible -phantom which so delights in haunting artists’ rooms and the scenes of -theaters,—a cousin of it is often found in the waiting-room of -dentists,—stage-fright, _le trac_, “footlight-fever,” or whatever the -thing is called, had seized her throat. The others tried to encourage -her—a perfectly useless attempt, which brings forth a still broader -grin on the face of the phantom. Now, really, it was no little thing -to step out for the first time in one’s life and deliver a lecture -before so many thousand people! - -“O my dear friends, I am frightened at the mere idea of standing on the -platform so alone with the abyss before me!” - -“Think of ‘soaring,’” said Chlodwig; “think of Blériot, who also was -alone—high up between heaven and the sea, apparently motionless, lost in -the universe.” - -“And do you believe that I should not be panic-stricken up there? Oh, if -I could only be in my room—if I were not obliged to go out before all -those strangers, perhaps hostile to me....” - -“But, Franka, I don’t know you,” said Frau Eleonore reproachfully. “I -thought you were a heroine. It was certainly not necessary for you to do -all this....” - -Some one came in and announced: “It is time, Fräulein.... The house is -full.... The audience is growing impatient.” - -A murmur of admiration went through the hall as Franka went forward and -took her place at the front of the stage. They were not prepared to see -such a maidenly poetic apparition. She wore a very simple white frock -with long, open sleeves. Her arms and hands were bare, without gloves, -without bracelets, without rings; they were white and perfectly -sculpturesque in form. Her luxuriant hair was artlessly arranged around -the small head. A bouquet of violets adorned her bodice. She had no -manuscript in her hand; nothing but a small ivory fan. Thus she stood -there for a moment. Her friends had applauded as she entered, and now -the others were clapping their hands so as to inspire the pale girl with -confidence. She extended her arms toward the hall as if commanding -silence and advanced one more step. The tumult ceased. Then she began in -a clear, firm, distinct voice:— - -“Dear sisters ... for, although I see many men in the hall, my message -is to women only, particularly to young girls....” - -The sound of her own voice reassured her. Under the tuition of an -eminent professor her melodious alto, capable of rich modulations, had -been happily trained and strengthened so that her clearly articulated -words were borne to the farthest corners of the hall. - -She spoke for nearly two hours; at first very slowly and calmly, but -gradually, as she grew more animated, her pale cheeks took on color, her -eyes shone, and her voice intensified to a passionate power. It was soon -evident that she was in touch with her audience, and repeatedly there -was a murmur of approbation; occasionally, outbursts of applause showed -the effect of her words. This made her feel as if she were borne aloft, -and it happened that many times, as if under inspiration, she used -sentences and turns of speech which she had not thought of during the -preparation of her lecture, and these very improvisations still further -strengthened the magnetic relationship between speaker and audience. - -The gist of her address had been expressed in her introduction: “You all -know the beautiful expression of Goethe’s Antigone: ‘Not here for mutual -hate, but mutual love are we.’ But, my sisters, the modern time enforces -upon us a second commandment: ‘For mutual thinking are we here.’” - -And then she went on to show what are the duties of this latest age,—the -age of flying,—and she further showed how in the accomplishment of these -duties both halves of the human race must coöperate; how it behooved a -woman not only to win for herself the mastery of various professions, of -various offices which have hitherto been exclusively preempted by men, -but also to realize that she must no longer remain voluntarily aloof -whenever the highest interests of the community are in question. Place -and voice in the direction of public affairs? That certainly is already -on the programme of the Woman Movement, but the most important thing is -a knowledge and understanding of the universal laws that govern nature -and the world; then only can she judge and coöperate where social -arrangements are to be decided. To take a hand in the transformation of -these arrangements, to become themselves lawgivers: that is a goal the -attainment of which may stand for the future; but even before having -attained this positive power, women, and maidens too, may work through -their influence. But how shall they bring their views and their feelings -to effectiveness if they stay in voluntary ignorance of all those things -that regulate the conduct of social, political, and economic life? If in -the most important questions on which depend welfare or misery, war or -peace, they are to have no voice because they always allow themselves to -be told: “You don’t understand anything about that!” They must acquire -for themselves a conception of the universe. First, they must -understand; then they must share in councils; then at last they can -coöperate.... Indeed, they must understand as well as the men; then they -will perhaps do better work than men, because they will not forget that -they are there to share in love, that it is their task to make -goodness—this highest of feminine virtues—prevail in all situations and -all actions. - -“There is no reason why the flame on the home altar should die down -because we succeed in casting its reflection on political life. Are -really mildness and gentleness, capacity for sympathy in sorrow and joy -purely feminine characteristics? No, they belong to men as well. Are -power and tenacity of purpose and resoluteness and courage purely -masculine virtues? No; they belong to women as well. And the perfect -human race of both sexes, when once they are to direct social life side -by side, must apply thereto the collective treasure of all their -qualities.” - -Franka did not confine herself to such abstract discussions throughout -her lecture. She elucidated in clear, simple words the conditions -actually prevailing; she described the promising as well as the -threatening prospects of the future as conditioned by the new -discoveries, and she pointed out the practical ways which young women of -the present day had to enter upon if they were to share in the -humanization—nay, rather, the deification of the humanity of the morrow. - -The most concrete and practical announcement which she made was that she -had established out of her own means a private free course of -instruction for mature young women. The lectures were not to be given by -her, but by university professors,—and she named certain distinguished -persons,—who twice a week during the next four months would give -lectures in a large hall engaged by her for this purpose. The following -subjects were on the programme: Social science, philosophy, the doctrine -of evolution, the history and prospects of contemporaneous movements, -and, finally, ethics and æsthetics. These two last were included, -because the realm of scientific truth should always be penetrated by the -light of morality and beauty. All these courses of study would be given -without pedantic insistence upon details, but would be presented in -synthetic method; and all of them, if they were absorbed into the mind -of the students, would furthermore produce that broader synthesis which -deserves the name of “world-conception,” that is, the vision of the -world, according to what we actually know it is at present and as it -presumably will be in the future, in the line of ceaseless evolution. -When she had spoken the peroration in a tone of ardent enthusiasm and -with an expression of prophetic inspiration on her youthful features, -there was at first a moment of breathless silence and then a burst of -thunderous applause. She bowed modestly and left the stage. - -In the artists’ room she sank exhausted on a sofa. Her three friends -surrounded her:—“It was marvelously beautiful!”—“Bravo, Franka!”—Helmer -kissed her hand: “Heroine,” he said in a whisper. - -In the hall the applause would not cease. - -“They are calling for you,” said Dr. Fixstern. “The audience wants to -see you again.” - -Franka shook her head. “No, I will not go out again—I am not a prima -donna!” - -“But just hear, how they are clapping, how they are calling for you.” - -“I beg of you, dear Doctor, go out and tell them that I have already -left the hall.” - -Dr. Fixstern did as she ordered. - -“Are you very tired, Franka?” asked Frau Eleonore. “How do you feel?” - -“How do I feel? Happy!” - -This was the beginning of Franka’s career, and now followed a series of -triumphs. The newspapers published long extracts from her addresses and -enthusiastic criticisms of her skill in the art of elocution. A few days -after her début she gave her second lecture, which again packed the -great Music Hall to the last seat; then she spoke in the Workingmen’s -Home, and here she kindled even more enthusiasm than before. Among the -young women of Vienna there sprang up a regular Franka cult, her -adherents called themselves “Frankistinnen”; as their badge they wore a -violet pin. There was in all the bookshops a special display of her -portraits. In the toy-shops Franka dolls were put on sale and were -eagerly bought. The comic papers published caricatures of her. Karl -Kraus made a feature of her in a Garlett number of “Die Fackel.” Herds -of autograph hyenas came down upon her. An impresario offered her an -engagement for America. The gramophone companies made her an offer to -have her represented on a record. A fashionable tailor introduced the -long, open Garlett sleeves. The pupils who attended the courses of -instruction which Franka had established were designated by the nickname -of the “Garlett girls.” And, worse than all, vaudeville theaters -enriched their repertoires of topical songs with a Garlett stanza. - -Franka shuddered under this tidal wave of popularity; it was almost -mortifying to her. She had undertaken her work as a kind of vestal -mission, and now it was accompanied by such noisy publicity. But like -all sudden and exaggerated excitement, this also gradually subsided; yet -the quiet and earnest effect continued and increased. She soon -recovered, in the estimation of all, her standing as a powerful advocate -and woman of irreproachable character. The Sielen relatives, to be sure, -turned their backs on her. Adele and Albertine and their whole set -completely vanished. It was not a severe blow to her. - -After a few weeks she went on a lecture _tournée_ to all the principal -cities of Germany. She was accompanied only by Frau von Rockhaus and a -maid. A business manager preceded her, whose duty it was to engage for -her lecture-halls and suitable quarters in the hotels. Everywhere she -went, she was received not only in her public capacity as a speaker, but -also with special honors by society as a lady. In the course of time her -journeys extended beyond Germany, first to the Scandinavian countries, -then to London and Paris. And after a few years her fame was world-wide. - - - - - CHAPTER X - AT LUCERNE - - -The clock of Eternity has moved forward a few seconds; we are writing -191—. The twentieth century is still “in its teens,” but 1920 is not far -away. The impatient, the impetuous, those who a few years ago were -shouting, full of anxiety or full of hope, “Now, now, everything is -going to change—a new era has dawned—mighty revolutions are before -us,”—all these have to confess that the face of the world, on the whole, -has not been very much altered, and that the actual transformations, by -reason of their gradual development, have been almost unnoticeable. -Terrible catastrophes like the sudden destruction of cities by -earthquakes, thrones overturned by revolutions, rulers assassinated by -the throwing of bombs, colonial and other wars—such things may have -devastated for a brief period the little strips of land affected and -aroused a general sensation, but soon everything became calm again. This -applies not only to the great disasters, but also to great and -unexpected good fortune such as the announcement of marvelous -discoveries or world-redeeming ideas:—such things startle men for a -moment out of their apathy, and awaken the wildest hopes; but then they -quickly flatten out and become commonplace, disappear from the surface, -and must pass through the stages of gradual development, until they -succeed in changing the face of the world. So many a fountain springs -foaming from the rocks, but only when it has, after a long course, -united with a thousand other trickling rivulets, does it become a river. - - -The hotels at Lucerne were filled to overflowing. It was once more time -for the “Toker Rose-Week” to begin. From year to year the “Rose -Pilgrims,” as they called themselves, had been streaming thither in -greater and greater numbers. It had become the fashion to spend seven -days in Lucerne. Many came not for the purpose of absorbing the lofty -intellectual enjoyments there offered, but in order to be seen. As the -hotels and private boarding-houses of the city were no longer sufficient -to harbor all the strangers, some automobile-owners had conceived the -idea of spending the nights in their machines,—for very abundant were -the cars that were provided with conveniences for sleeping and -toilet,—and a vast automobile-park covered the fields around the city. - -During the first years Mr. Toker had been satisfied to lodge his guests -in a hotel engaged for the purpose, and all the exercises took place in -its public rooms. But now, the edifices and gardens which he had planned -were ready, and in their fairyland beauty they had won the reputation of -being one of the sights of Europe. The list of invitations which Mr. -Toker sent out in 191— was very differently constituted from that which -he had written down in his first prospectus. For many of those who then -bore brilliant names in the firmament of fame had been extinguished, and -new stars had flamed into sight. The aged die—room for the young! - -It was the first day of the first week. Mr. Toker was as yet alone, and -was awaiting the arrival of his illustrious guests. His friendly old -face was radiant. He was satisfied with his work. Success had attended -it. The way the concentrated forces had acted was astonishing and their -effect was constantly increasing. As if unified in a central sun, the -flames of genius scattered over the earth were now blazing in his -Rose-Temple, and spread from there, as by a mighty reflector, all over -the earth, penetrating all corners where their light had never before -shone. - -From many indications, Toker was aware that the level of Public Spirit -had been elevated by the influence that emanated from the Rose-Temple. -Watchwords, winged phrases which had flown forth from there, were -circulated in newspapers and were quoted in parliaments; the year-books, -containing extracts from the discourses delivered, were to be found in -the libraries of universities, and were widely used as manuals for the -instruction of the young; the wide international public listened to the -addresses of these great ones of the earth and accepted many of their -lofty thoughts and involuntarily introduced them into social -conversations; so that when Mr. Toker jestingly said, “This is my -world-ennobling factory,” he did not claim too much. - -Certainly, not all the dreams that John A. Toker had conceived when he -made his plan had been fulfilled. What had given him the impulse to take -up the work had been his indignation that the splendid invention of a -dirigible airship had been greeted as a useful weapon for future wars. -No! against such a notion, against such possibilities,—a rain of -annihilation from the sky,—must a mighty storm of protest be raised; he -had called these great minds together for this purpose. - -On the very first week of the Rose-Festival, this theme was printed on -the programmes and flaming anathemas against the barbarization of the -air went forth into the world, combined with the demand to put an end to -war itself. But no palpable result followed—the war ministries continued -to install their fleets of airships, and the construction of -fortifications and dreadnoughts went on without interruption, in spite -of the fact that these instruments of war would be superfluous and -useless if once they were exposed to the rain of explosives. - -But John A. Toker had faith. Not in one year, and not in two or three, -could such a mighty work be accomplished—certainly, dirigible flights to -spiritual and moral altitudes were not easier of attainment than those -in the physical atmosphere. - -“Well, papa, has not a single specimen of your great menagerie arrived -yet?” Toker’s only daughter, Gwendoline, a girl of eighteen, overflowing -with life, came and laid her hand on her father’s shoulder and -laughingly put this question. And when she laughed a whole _scherzo_ of -dazzling teeth, sparkling eyes, and mischievous dimples was playing over -her piquant little face. “Are you expecting wholly exotic birds this -year?” she added. - -“Oh, Gwen, how can you be so lacking in reverence?” - -Her features suddenly assumed the expression which she herself called -her “Sunday singing-book face.” - -“Oh, papa, I am penetrated with awesome reverence! Only to think of all -these laurel-crowned moonshine occiputs, trumpeted together from every -corner of the globe, makes me shiver with respect! And is it not true -that this year a ‘Jap’ is coming?” - -“A Japanese, yes, daughter. You know I do not permit abbreviations for -whole nations. Or do you like it when your father is spoken of as the -‘Yankee’?” - -“Dear me, and what do you say when your daughter is called a ‘Gibson -Girl,’ or the ‘Dollar Princess’?... Oh, look! there is one flying now -and there is another. And there, away down on the horizon,—is not that -an airship?” - -The balcony on which father and daughter were standing commanded a wide -outlook over land and lake. The edifices which Mr. Toker had caused to -be erected were situated only a short distance from the shore. The -narrow strip of land between the water and the buildings seemed to be -covered with a pale-red giant carpet—the whole piece was one single bed -of roses. The lake glittered in the sunshine and innumerable sailboats -and other craft were moving on its surface. On the distant horizon -snow-crowned mountain peaks, and above all a cloudless sky, against the -brilliant blue of which were hovering several dark dragon-flies—the -air-motors now no longer objects of wonder: no longer objects of wonder, -but nevertheless overpoweringly wonderful. Always, when at a greater or -less distance such an equipage was seen, men exclaimed just as -Gwendoline did: “See, an aeroplane, and there’s another, and yonder is -an airship!” - -Mr. Toker raised his head and shaded his eyes:—“Yes, my daughter, I see -and rejoice! How high they fly! Oh, but man will no longer soar to the -heights with impunity....” - -“‘With impunity’?... I don’t understand....” - -“No, you do not understand. You do not know, as yet, why we are here. I -have not informed you what the object is which I am aiming at in my -Rose-Week. Perhaps I will tell you some other time—you have seemed to me -still too young, too childish. You are such a child still, Gwen,—lucky -girl!” - -“When may I learn to fly, papa? When may I have my little airship?” - -“Do you see—even that you would regard as a toy!” - - -Three days later Toker’s guests were all assembled in the Rose-Palace at -Lucerne. Not quite all, indeed, whom he had invited had responded to his -invitation; still, only a few stars from the firmament of living -celebrities had failed him. If it was a great privilege for the public -to see gathered together in one spot such a multitude of famous men and -women, and to hear them, it was for these guests themselves a still -greater pleasure to meet their brethren and sisters of genius under one -roof. Especially did the week that preceded the formal exercises offer -the most delightful opportunity for quiet, intimate intercourse among -those who had been in the habit of coming for several years. Many close -friendships had already been formed. No one who had once been a guest at -the Rose-Palace, however abounding in thoughts and experiences in his -own right, departed from the place without having been enriched in many -respects, without having gained a general deepening of knowledge and a -broadening of the mental horizon. All kept throughout the year a -delightful memory of the Rose-Days; an invitation to be present was a -lofty object of ambition to those who had not as yet been guests there. - -John A. Toker felt his heart swell with the most joyful pride as he -joined the circle of his guests. Was it not the most noble assembly of -kingly personages that the world possessed? At brilliant court -festivities there might, indeed, be as many Excellencies, Highnesses, -and Majesties gathered together, but the majority of these title-bearers -would have sunk into oblivion in the next generation, while the names -and works of the majority of Toker’s Rose-Court would be handed down to -coming centuries. - - -In the hall of one of the first-class hotels at Lucerne at tea-time, -chattering groups are scattered about in various corners and -window-embrasures, separated from one another by potted plants and by -pillars and screens which divide the immense room with its niches and -bay-windows into practically small private parlors. The sofas and wide -armchairs of light-green straw are decked with cushions covered with -pale flowered silk and stuffed with eiderdown. - -The larger and smaller groups and the solitary persons sitting here and -there, drinking tea, had evidently come from all parts of the world. -Although a certain international uniformity causes people to be -differentiated rather by the classes to which they belong than by their -nationalities, still there are certain indications by which one can tell -with some certainty by the external appearance whether the persons met -with are English or French, Germans or Americans, Slavs or Italians. In -this great hall you could also see some specimens of quite exotic -nationalities, for several Japanese and an East Indian Rajah were -present. - -Two men, sitting at a small table on which the waiter had just set a -service of various liqueurs, were amusing themselves in guessing what -country this or that person, seated near them or passing by, came from. - -“See, that family with the three tall daughters, the haughty mother, and -the papa reading the newspaper, is certainly English.” - -“That was not difficult to detect since that gigantic newspaper is the -‘Times.’” - -“That pretty little lady there, decked with tassels and ribbons, and at -the same time flirting with the three men talking with her so -vivaciously, must be a Parisian.” - -“And that rather stout beauty over there, with the suspicion of a -mustache and a superfluity of jewels, is probably from some Balkan -State.” - -“And that comfortable-looking, honest couple, so old-fashioned in their -dress, with their silver wedding celebrated long ago, and who make it -very evident that they are unhappy because they do not have two jugs of -beer in front of them, instead of that insipid tea, evidently come from -some little German city.” - -“And that group by the window,—very elegant, but nothing conspicuous -about them,—it would be rather difficult to tell what country they come -from. National characteristics betray themselves generally by something -like caricatures—normal men of the cultivated classes, with their air of -assurance, with their correct dress, might come from anywhere; you can -tell what society they belong to,—that is, good society,—but not from -what country.” - -A young man dressed entirely in white, remarkably slender and tall, was -just crossing the room on his way to the street door. Half a step behind -him marched respectfully an elderly gentleman of military bearing, but -in dark civilian dress. - -“Who can that young man be? Nice-looking fellow! I should take him for -an American.” - -“That would be a mistake. It happens that I can tell you about him. That -is Prince Victor Adolph, the fourth son of a German monarch. I also know -that he is not the ordinary kind; he is democratic, not to say -socialistic, in his tendencies; an enemy to court etiquette and against -everything military. For that reason, apparently, he is compelled to -have the old general with him as a traveling companion. That he is -American in his appearance is perhaps due to the fact that he spent a -term studying at Harvard University.” - -The two gentlemen engaged in this conversation were from Vienna. They -had become acquaintances in the railway coupé while coming to Lucerne. -This method of travel was still in use, although an organized passenger -service by airship had already been established; just as at the end of -the thirties in the nineteenth century, after the opening of the first -railway the post-stage still ran merrily for a time. And just as at that -time many people vowed that they would never, as long as they lived, -enter a railway train, so now the majority of people swore that no money -in the world would tempt them to trust their precious lives to the -mysterious ocean of air. Besides, a new, safety-assuring power had come -into railway service, since everywhere was installed the rapid and -inexpensive and comfortable one-rail system. - -One of the two Viennese was Baron Franz Bruning, Chlodwig Helmer’s -boyhood friend. He had not greatly changed; his full, round face had -possibly grown a trifle rounder, his black mustache a little bushier. In -his civil career he had been fortunate enough to have risen to the rank -of Hofrat. - -The other, a personality pretty widely known throughout the city, was -named Oscar Regenburg. When his name appeared in the papers, “Among -those present was noticed,” it read: “Herr Oscar Regenburg, the -well-known sportsman.” If any man who has money and goes a good deal -into society, yet has no rank among the nobility, exercises no calling, -is not active in any business, is not honored with any public -appointment, but as a compensation possesses several saddle-horses and -an automobile, then—since every man must have some kind of title—he is -called a “sportsman.” - -Sport, however, was not the goal of Oscar Regenburg’s ambition. He would -have much preferred to bear the title of “art connoisseur”; for he was -an assiduous collector of paintings, old armor, and rare china. His -spare time he spent in visiting art collections, picture auctions and -galleries. He also evinced great interest in music and the -theater—although he cultivated the stage not so much from before the -curtain as behind the scenes, especially in the form of pretty operetta -singers. Furthermore, he was an amateur traveler,—certainly not for the -purpose of enjoying beautiful scenery, but so as to be present wherever -expositions or horse-races or aviation meetings or festivals of any kind -were taking place. Therefore, he could not fail to be, for once at -least, a visitor at the Lucerne Rose-Week. - -Genuine deep passions were not at the bottom of all these occupations; -Regenburg was a thoroughly apathetic man, mediocre in every direction; -his whole object in life was to fill up his superfluous time and spend -his superfluous money. He was a man of thirty-five, of insignificant -external appearance, but he always took pains to look elegant and _chic_ -by following the latest fashion in dress, in behavior, and in the use of -slang. As, for example, the fashion had obtained among men, to sit as -negligently as possible with the right foot on the left knee, moving the -point of the shoe up and down and at the same time caressing the -bright-colored silk stocking visible almost to the top; there was no one -who let his toes play with more vivacity or expression, or who clasped -his own thin ankles more tenderly than he did. - -The two men continued their conversation. - -“I have no faith in these democratic poses among the sons of rulers,” -said Bruning, as he poured himself out a tiny glass of bénédictine. - -“As far as I have observed, you take the attitude of ‘I have no faith in -it’ toward most things.” - -“As a matter of fact, I regard it as a reasonable and useful quality to -be a skeptic. When a man has collected some little experiences in life, -and possesses some little knowledge of men, and has attained some -insight behind the scenes of the various social, political, and ... -other comedies which are being played on the world’s stage, one gets -along best by putting on the armor of doubt. Can it be that you are an -idealist nourished on illusions?” - -“I?... Oh, I am just nothing at all—I live and let live.” - -“That’s also a reasonable point of view. Well, but I am curious to -know what is to be offered in the Rose-Booth yonder. It is interesting -to see all the living celebrities trotted out by the great -dollar-ringmaster;—the play will certainly remind me of Hagenbeck, who -makes long-maned lions and spitting tiger-cats go through their paces -in unnatural attitudes. What is still more comic in the whole show is -that there seems to be a civilizing and world-improving aim bound up -with it—as if this world could be improved! Man remains man, and when -I say that, I do not say anything very flattering. And, above all, how -can the world be made better by a few self-conceited people making -speeches before a few other frivolous people? The only effect that -addresses have on me is to make me sleepy. I never attend them on -principle.” - -“What did you come here for, then?” - -“Because an old friend of mine—the poet Chlodwig Helmer—belongs to the -lion-tamer Toker’s gang of boarders. I get from this friend what the -whole object and aim of the circus of fame-crowned animals amounts -to....” - -“Well, what is it?” - -“Men are to learn to fly morally. Do you understand that?” - -“Not altogether.” - - - - - CHAPTER XI - AN EVENING IN THE ROSE-PALACE - - -Chlodwig Helmer had attained high literary rank during these years. His -drama, produced in the Volkstheater at Vienna, won great applause, and -was soon added to the repertory of every playhouse in the country. A -second drama—in verse—was granted the Schiller Prize. But his epic poem -“Schwingen”—“Pinions”—obtained the most signal success. The whole -campaign of the conquest of the regions of the air, from Icarus to -Zeppelin and Blériot, was celebrated. But, further, in prophetic tone, -dipping into the future,—and this part of the poem was by far the -greatest,—the changes were described which would in all probability take -place in consequence of that mightiest among the achievements of human -genius. Particularly did the poet sing those flights which, like a -corollary to physical soaring, should bear aloft into more luminous -regions the human intellect and the ethical aspiration of man. - -The epic aroused immense enthusiasm. Translations into French and -English were made and the name of Helmer became famous throughout the -world, and of course reached the attention of John A. Toker, who -forwarded his invitation to the young poet. He did it with all the more -enthusiasm, because he had discovered in “Schwingen” the very same ideas -as had given him the impulse to the inauguration of the Rose-Week. It -was a noteworthy coincidence of thought. And yet, when you came to think -of it, not so remarkable after all.... Thoughts which were afloat in an -age are produced by the phenomena of that age, and they are precipitated -simultaneously in different places into different minds, so that it -frequently happens that great discoveries and inventions are made at the -same time by several discoverers and inventors, quite independently of -one another. - -Still another young celebrity was invited by Toker for this year’s -Rose-Week at Lucerne: this was Franka Garlett. - -On the evening before the public exercises were to take place, the -guests of the Toker Rose-Palace were gathered around the great table. -When the dessert was served, the master of the house tapped on his -glass. All became silent and listened:— - -“My dear and illustrious guests! The beneficent custom here prevails -that no formal toasts are ever presented. All the eloquence that we are -capable of expending must be reserved for the public campaign which -begins to-morrow. But for the very reason that this is the last evening -which we are to have to ourselves, I will take advantage of it, in order -to tell you something which I have on my mind.” - -He paused for a moment. All eyes were fixed upon him with eager -anticipation. His external appearance made a sympathetic and -confidence-inspiring picture: absolutely correct in his evening-dress, -but at the same time quite informal, almost negligent in his attitude. -His short-cropped hair was already perfectly white, but his cheeks were -of a bright rosy color, and a joyous expression of the greatest -good-nature showed itself in his face. In a somewhat altered voice he -went on:— - -“When a few years ago I saw assembled here for the first time this -wreath of chosen men and women,—alas! some of the blossoms have been -blighted by the frost of death, but others have come to take their -places, for such is the way of the world,—when for the first time I had -conjured before me so many spirits of light, I believed that from their -collected brilliancy a sudden enlightenment might gush out over the -whole earth. That was an illusion! The thick darkness of ignorance, -misery, stupidity, and wickedness, in which our world is still densely -enveloped, is not to be so rapid dispelled. It will take much further -endeavor to drive it away. But that the efforts which have gone forth -from this place have not been wholly vain, I, and assuredly you, have -the fullest conviction. What especially pleases me, as the result of -this fortnight in the month of roses, is the advancement, the enjoyment, -the edification which you yourselves have all found here by being able -to hold familiar intercourse with people of your own stamp from the -domain of genius, by mutually giving intellectual stimulus and -enrichment to one another, by the consciousness that you, all of you, -whether you be masters in this art or that, whether you be discoverers -in this science or that, whether you be prophets in this sphere of -thought or that—that all of you, I say, still form only one -communion:—that of the elevators of human life. And a loftier life is to -stream forth from here and hasten that development through which all -mankind is to be brought up to a higher level. Oh, I know right well -what the doubters will reply: ‘What is carried away from your -Rose-Parliament, in the columns of innumerable newspapers, pamphlets, -and gramophone records, is merely words, words ... ideas ... and what -moves society are deeds and needs. Not by reason, but by the passions, -that is to say, by violent feelings, are the masses moved; all your -beautiful speeches glitter and burst like soap-bubbles.’ Of course, -ideas are not the only impelling forces; more powerful are the -instincts. It is always a mistake to explain the complicated movements -of the world and of society by the working of one element, of one force; -for numberless elements, numberless forces, are always in activity. And -to deny the force of thought is equivalent to ignoring the half of the -universe, which consists of matter and of spirit.” - -“Is not papa a dear little old philosopher?” whispered Gwendoline, who -sat at the other end of the table, to her neighbor, a famous English -novelist. - -“Feelings regulate actions,” continued Mr. Toker;—“granted; but -frequently feelings are ruled by thoughts. Ideas, among them illusory -ideas, are what kindle the enthusiasm of the masses, and are fought for. -Forth from ideas proceeds that sublime endeavor which is called the -ideal. What was striven for yesterday is the attained to-day, and gives -way to new endeavor, to new-born ideas, and that is equivalent to saying -to new ideals.” - -“Now he has said enough, don’t you think so?” murmured Gwendoline again. -“One should not bore one’s guests.” - -The novelist glanced at her reprovingly: “It does not bore _me_.” - -“Thoughts are the begetters of sensations; above all, they are the -foundations of knowledge. Therefore, whoever scatters thoughts into the -world, scatters seed from which grow all those fruits that we enjoy -under the name of culture. There is much bitter fruit in with it, -because still many unworthy thoughts are floating about. Progressive -humanity requires high thinking! Soaring thoughts.... - -“This year, just as every year, a volume is to be published which will -contain your addresses: I propose to entitle this volume, ‘Menschliche -Hochgedanken’—‘Thoughts that soar.’ The beginning of our Rose-Weeks -coincided with the conquest of the air. You know that the impulse of -your joint action was given to me by the flights which were accomplished -by the first ‘dirigible’ through the sea of ether. Now it is for us to -bring about some victorious records by our flights into the azure realm -of the ideal. Thoughts are the vehicle for this—thoughts which soar -above the clouds—that is to say, high above the vapors of petty private -interests, above the flats of national contentions—in a word, thoughts -that soar! And so I close with one word, the war-cry which must be the -war-cry of the new, height-conquering age: the cry, ‘Upward!’” - -“Upward!” responded the whole Table Round. - -Thereupon all adjourned into the adjoining hall. - -An illustrious company, indeed. There were few young people among them, -and not many women. The wreaths of unquestioned glory are usually twined -around masculine heads, and there mostly when they are bare. - -The youngest of the thirty Rose-Knights was Chlodwig Helmer; the -youngest among the six ladies of the Roses—all of them wearing an -enameled rose on the left breast—was Franka Garlett. - -As they sat or stood, they divided naturally into various groups. Some -passed through the open doors to the terraces, and among these was -Franka on Helmer’s arm. - -It was a bright moonlit night in June; the air was full of intoxicating -fragrance rising from the dense parterres of roses. On the neighboring -lake glided illuminated boats, and even up in the air could occasionally -be seen a light moving swiftly by—probably some sentimental aëronaut on -an evening flight. Quite unobtrusively yet distinctly was heard the -music of an orchestra playing in a neighboring concert-hall. - -Franka sat down in a rocking-chair at the end of the terrace and Helmer -stood by her side leaning against the balustrade. They gazed and -listened for some little time without speaking. Franka wrapped a trifle -closer around her the white silken scarf which she had thrown over her -shoulders. - -“A cool breeze blows from the lake,” she remarked. - -“Shall we go back to the hall?” - -“Oh, no, it is fine here. Everything is so beautiful, so dreamy, so -magical.... Is it not remarkable that we two should meet here as -colleagues in the Knighthood of the Roses? How many years is it since we -first met in grandfather’s chamber at the Sielenburg? You a poor -secretary, I a poor orphan girl!—You are now a great and celebrated -poet!” - -“And you—the Garlett! The name has such a distinction that nothing more -needs to be added to it.” - -“What I have come to be, Brother Chlodwig, I owe to you. Had it not been -for those letters....” - -“Well, yes; perhaps everything would have been different—perhaps more -happily for you.... I find in your face a trace of seriousness, -sometimes of sadness, which was not there when I saw you last.” - -It had been two years since that last time. Circumstances had frequently -separated these two friends. Helmer had settled in Berlin, where, after -the successful performances of his drama, he had accepted a position as -a subdirector of the Royal Theater. Franka had frequently been absent on -her journeys, had spent one whole winter in southern Italy for a -complete rest;—in short, there had always been intervals of several -months, and finally now two years had elapsed without Franka and -Helmer’s having met. - -But their correspondence had gone on without any cessation. They had -remained constantly in communication by letter. They exchanged full -confidences in regard to all their labors and plans; they shared their -views over all external happenings; but they never actually wrote any -personal confidences. His poems and her lectures formed the chief topics -of their correspondence; as colleagues they had become strongly bound -together; as man and woman they had remained rather like strangers, -although their letters had always preserved that soul-relationship of -brother and sister with which their correspondence had begun. It was for -both a great and genuine pleasure to be invited together as Mr. John A. -Toker’s guests; it gave to the festivities of this week a flavor of -intimacy. During these days they had seen a good deal of each -other,—every time he had been her seat-mate at table,—and they had told -each other all that was worth telling of their lives during the past two -years. - -“So I look sad, do I?” replied Franka to Helmer’s observation. “And yet -I have no sorrow; I am not unhappy.” - -“That is only a negative assurance—you do not say that you feel happy. -But I can imagine what you lack....” - -“And I can guess what you imagine.... Well, it is true that in the life -that I am leading there is more or less renunciation; but isn’t that -necessary whenever one dedicates one’s self to any impersonal service? -How is it when a maiden devoted to piety takes the veil?” - -“Fortunately you have registered no vow, Franka. You can always....” - -“Marry, do you mean? Let us talk of something else. You are the last -person to say such things to me.” - -“It is true, I myself directed you to the path of renunciation. As long -as your task completely occupied you—but does it still?” - -“Do not ask me such confessional questions. The task is great enough to -fill any life; but I often feel myself too small for the task. Are you -quite satisfied, are you quite happy, Helmer?” - -“No; but that is not at all necessary. I believe that no man has any -rightful claim to be. Least of all, we fighters. We need bitterness, -hindrances—our goal must forever seem farther away from us.” - -At this instant the daughter of their host joined them:— - -“I hope that I am not disturbing a flirtation.... Do let me sit down -with you, Miss Garlett. Oh, and please, Mr. Helmer, do not go away ... -you are among my favorites, because you are young still—comparatively -speaking. The famous specimens of wisdom which papa collects around him -are all too venerable for me; it is a genuine enjoyment to see two such -fresh geniuses as you are.... You ought to marry—pardon me, I am -chattering absurdities. Certainly, papa understands everything -imaginable: making money in heaps, carrying out gigantic undertakings, -universal politics, and dozens of other things—but not the education of -daughters. Oh, look,” she cried, interrupting herself, “isn’t that -lovely?” - -She pointed to the dark horizon, where at that moment not merely one but -four airships, each provided with dazzling lights, were maneuvering. -They darted up and swooped down, made “figure eights” and loops, passed -and repassed one another in premeditated regularity—a regular -air-quadrille. - -“Isn’t that still lovelier?” said Helmer, pointing to a shady clump of -bushes where irregular points of light were flickering. “There, do you -see?—fireflies! Nature is everywhere more beautiful than any of the -works of men. And do you know also why these little creatures, otherwise -so invisible, have put on such glittering coat-tails? They are in love -and they are out a-wooing.... Nature always makes use of beauty when she -is serving love.” - -“I cannot answer for that, Mr. Helmer. It is my principle—for I am a -reservoir filled to the brim with the strictest principles—to turn the -conversation as soon as a man speaks the word love.” - -“Yes, Miss Toker, you really give that impression,” laughed Franka. - -Again a fascinating spectacle was presented to them—a great white -quadrilateral sheet, such as are seen on the stage of a moving-picture -theater, appeared on the horizon stretching up high into the sky and on -it were projected magnificently colored living pictures. Immense -pictures, for the force of the imagination multiplied their dimensions -in proportion to the distance apparently equal to that of the stars; and -yet it was only the trickery of diminutive films. It was a wholly new -invention, based on the laws of the Fata Morgana. Many of the people -present saw this spectacle for the first time and it filled them with -wonder and awe. - -“What shall we not discover before we get through, we worms of the -earth!” cried Franka; “and how deep into the heavens even now all our -mechanical apparatus penetrate!” - -“Apparatus, yes,” murmured Chlodwig; “but not our minds!” - -“Don’t be ungrateful, Helmer,” said Franka, reproachfully. “Does not the -great success of your ‘Schwingen’ prove sufficiently that a wide circle -of minds already feel a yearning for the heights? If it were not so, -would you be so understood, so celebrated? Isn’t it true, Miss Toker, -that the English translation of Helmer’s poem has aroused the greatest -admiration in England and America?” - -“Yes, I believe so; at least, papa says so. He is quite crazy over your -‘Schwingen.’ However, I haven’t read it. Papa thinks that you meant to -express in poetry exactly the same as he tries to express with his -Rose-Week ... but what that really means is a mystery to me.... I -believe he would like just such a man for his son-in-law ... but you -must not regard this as an offer of marriage, Mr. Helmer.... I shall -accept only an American ... and if it should chance to be a European, -then it must be at least a duke in the superlative degree—a grandduke or -an archduke.... Those titles please me, and especially the way those -grandees are addressed in German which, translated into English, would -mean ‘Your Transparency, Your Serene Transparency’ ... would not a man -appear like a bunch of Roentgen rays?... But now I must trot back to the -salon. Good-bye!” - -Franka, smiling, looked at her as she went, and exclaimed: “What a dear -little goosie!” - -In the white frame against the evening sky now appeared a magnificent -picture:—the Gods of Olympus. It looked as if the heaven had opened and -allowed mortals down below to see how the Immortals exist. To be sure, -they were only the immemorially known forms of human fancy, such as had -been seen to satiety in paintings and on the stage; but the vast space -and the gigantic size of the apparition, passing beyond all power of -comprehension, evoked admiration mingled with awe. Now, the Olympian -ones began to move: Hebe poured nectar into a cup which she presented to -Jupiter; Cupid shot an arrow which fell out of the frame—it might have -pierced one of the spectators down below; Venus, clothed in glittering -silvery veils, laid her arm around the War-God’s shoulder, and Juno -caressed her peacock as it stood with circling tail widespread. In a -half-minute all had disappeared. Then followed a picture from the -Catholic Heaven—the Sistine Madonna, lovely and motionless. Fantastic -landscapes followed, the like of which do not exist on earth, inhabited -by creatures such as have never been seen. It was as if the impenetrable -curtain, which is hung at a billion-mile distance over the secret -activities of the world of stars, had been suddenly withdrawn, giving -men a glimpse into the regions of Mars or of Saturn. To be sure, they -were only pictures due to the power of human imagination, which can -never attain the unknown realities, yet, appearing in the firmament, -they were like revelations from other worlds. - -Franka put her hand on Helmer’s arm: “Ah, Brother Chlodwig!” she sighed, -shuddering. - -He bent down to her: “What is it, Franka?” He asked this as gently as -one might inquire what troubled a trembling child, and with his -expressive hand he made a motion as if he were going to caress her -forehead—but he refrained. - -“I know that it is only illusion—but these glances into unearthly, -infinite distances fill me with a weird, painful sense of loneliness, of -nothingness....” - -“I know that...?” - -“You do, Chlodwig? I thought, the higher your soul soars, the more at -home you felt.” - -“The more reverent, perhaps,—but ‘at home’? Infinite space is so cold we -cannot build huts on the Milky Way”—he laid his hand on Franka’s which -still rested on his arm. “Do you know the Schubert song in which a -will-o’-the-wisp holds up before the lonely wanderer the realization of -his deepest yearning:—a warm house and in it a well-beloved heart?...” - -“A well-beloved heart,” repeated Franka dreamily. - -They remained for a while silent, looking into each other’s eyes. Then -Franka withdrew her hand and stood up: “We will return to the salon.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - MR. TOKER’S ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS - - -By this time there had assembled a still larger crowd than before, -visitors having come to join the house-party. Whoever had letters of -introduction to either Mr. Toker or to one of his guests, was invited -once and for all to spend the evening in the Rose-Palace. - -When Franka entered the room, Mr. Toker came toward her: “Ah, here you -are.... I was just looking for you. A gentleman is here who is eager to -be introduced to you. I will bring him immediately.” - -He went away, and after a few moments came back with a strikingly -distinguished-looking young man:— - -“Miss Garlett, here is Prince Victor Adolph, of ——, who tells me that he -has heard you speak in his father’s city and now is highly pleased to be -able to bring his homage to you.” - -After saying this, Mr. Toker withdrew and joined his other guests. - -Franka greeted her new acquaintance with a bow. “I am very glad to meet -you.... Your Highness was at my lecture?” - -“Yes, gnädiges Fräulein, and I am very much pleased to be able to hear -you again. The problem that you are treating interests me deeply.” - -He spoke very deliberately in a low tone, almost timidly. - -“Is that so, Prince? Are you really interested in the tasks that -confront young women? For that is the theme which I took for my lecture -in your home city.” - -“Heavens, I am interested in everything that is in any degree -revolutionary.” - -“A remarkable taste for an heir to a throne.” - -“I shall never mount the throne—thank God!” - -“That is a pity, for revolutionary monarchs are exactly what our epoch -might make use of.” - -“Do you think our epoch needs monarchs?” - -This tone surprised Franka and appealed to her. In order to be able to -continue the conversation, she sat down on a sofa which was just behind -her. At her invitation Victor Adolph took his place on the sofa at a -respectful distance from her. She let her eyes rest with pleasure on his -figure. He was slender, sinewy, and very tall; his head with its blond -curly hair was held high, as if he were a very haughty man; but this -impression was contradicted by an exceedingly gentle expression about -the mouth; the red lips were not concealed by his slight mustache; his -eyes were intensely blue and full of vivacity; his eyebrows rather -delicate and straight, also thick and almost black. His age was about -twenty-six. Taken all in all, he was a fine specimen of the genus “Man.” - -With no less pleasure Victor Adolph’s eyes rested on the womanly form -next him. Indeed, Franka now looked womanly and not girlish as at her -first arrival at the Sielenburg. Both the years and her work had matured -her. The earnest and passionate mental work which she had to accomplish -in her chosen mission had imprinted on her face an expression of almost -gloomy resolution, but this wholly disappeared when she opened her mouth -to speak, or still more when she smiled; then dimples showed in her -cheeks and made her look much younger than she was. Her figure also, -though still slim and supple, had lost its former ethereal delicacy. It -was the figure of a majestic Diana, not of an emaciated nymph, such as -“the new art” liked to paint. For the matter of that, at this time the -fashion had changed; the angular, the osseous, thin-as-a-rail style was -no longer held up as the ideal of feminine beauty. Arms like sticks, -making a triangle at the elbow and terminating in huge hands; -rectangular shoulders, from between which rises conically a neck -displaying all the tendons; hips so narrow that the whole figure has the -shape of a perpendicular worm, writhing even when it is not stepped -on—all this, according to general taste, had given place again to the -round, soft, and wavy line which has always prevailed as the line of -beauty in the creations of Nature. - -Franka practiced the greatest simplicity in her dress; she wore only -smooth materials of one color, without any adornment of puffs, -furbelows, or the like. Even though her toilette followed the fashion -there was a stamp of originality and a personal touch in it. Her sleeves -had invariably the well-known open Garlett shape. She always wore a -bouquet of fresh violets at her belt. Her hair also was constantly -dressed in the same way, the heavy black braids coiled on top of her -head and worn like a diadem. As adornment she wore only pearls, although -the Sielen family jewels consisted of diamonds and all kinds of precious -stones. - -Victor Adolph’s eyes studied her from head to foot—he was a great -connoisseur and appraiser of the art of feminine dress: art in the true -sense of the word; for only an artistic sense can succeed in so -conforming the style, the color, and the character of a gown to the -peculiarities of its wearer, so that the two make a harmonious picture. -That evening, Franka wore a gown of light pale lilac; her silken shoes -and stockings were also of lavender; a long string of pearls hung around -her neck, and she had the bunch of violets at her breast, her white arms -as usual were without gloves, her hands innocent of rings. - -“You asked if our epoch needs monarchs? Prince, that is a strange -question in your mouth.” - -“I have more than once noticed that if I say anything reasonable it -arouses astonishment, because I happen to be a prince. Doesn’t that in -itself imply that princes are superfluous? Indeed, is not the whole -history of social progress marked by the gradual disappearance of once -acknowledged necessities?” - -Thus they talked for a while about generalities, but their interest and -their thoughts were not so much directed to the subject of their -conversation as to the mutual observation of their personalities; what -they each felt was that they were satisfied with each other and that -they were sympathetic. But others soon joined them and Prince Victor -Adolph took his leave. - -In another corner of the salon stood John A. Toker surrounded by a dozen -of his most distinguished guests. - -“I have just learned, my good friends,” said Mr. Toker, “that in the -course of the next few days the heads of two European countries are -coming here in order to be present at some of our public functions—the -King of Italy and the President of the French Republic. We must manage -it so that the address ‘The War in the Air’ which is put down on our -programme will be heard by these exalted personages. In the first place, -there is nothing more interesting to the leaders of the nations than the -subject, War. There is no surer guarantee of their fame:—if they carry -it on, they are glorious War-Lords; if they manage to avoid it, then -they are sublime Princes of Peace. In the second place, the way in which -the war-problem is treated among us can only prove useful when it -reaches the rulers of human society.” - -“Or the wide masses,” remarked one of the bystanders. - -“Well, yes,” assented Toker; “the masses also constitute a ruling order. -Whoever wishes the welfare of human society will not care whether it is -attained from above or from below. Best of all, when both meet and -complement each other.” - -The same bystander again remarked: “Opposites do not complement, but -mutually destroy each other.” - -“Ah, my worthy friend,” retorted Toker, “we must not be checked in our -endeavors by such generalities. If phrases like that do contain a truth, -still we must find out whether they can be applied to the special case -that lies before us. A thing must be seized from _all_ sides. That -offers the best chance of finally hitting upon the right side or several -right sides. Not merely one road leads to Rome. All of you, my dear -Knights of the Rose, are a living proof to me how varied are the ways -that lead to the heights of Humanity—every one of you has struck out in -a different path, and yet they all meet in—” - -“Lucerne!” interpolated some one. - -Toker nodded. “Quite right! In Lucerne: that means, since our -‘Rose-Week,’ something else than the mere name of a city.” - -With joyous pride he glanced around and summed up in his mind the -valuation of the intellects there assembled. In fact, he had good reason -to be proud, for among the great men who had come to Lucerne at his -invitation were.... Yet, the form in which this story is told, allowing -events to be projected into the future, precludes calling the Knights of -the Rose Order by name.... So, then, no names—only a few incomplete -data:— - -A French author, regarded by his countrymen as the greatest of the -living authors. No longer young, he has an enormous list of books to his -credit; all brilliantly worked out with historical, prehistoric, and -imaginary background, full of irony and full of wrath against social -follies and absurdities, upright, bold, a warm worshiper before the -altar of beauty. - -A young Russian poet. The events of the Manchurian War, the horrors of -the succeeding revolution, and of the still more horrible -counter-revolution still played on his soul, just as the tempest plays -on the strings of an æolian harp, enticing forth the most magical tones. -He is waging a fierce, relentless war against society’s most arrant -enemy: against stupidity in all its forms; especially in the form of -superstition and in that of the criminal folly which impels men to -enthrall, to persecute, and to tear one another to pieces. His eyes are -unspeakably sad, but resolution speaks from his features. He wields his -lash savagely and pitilessly, not because he hates or despises -mankind—on the contrary, he sees in it a temple from which he will drive -the profaners in holy wrath. - -A great tragédienne of the Latin stock. When she plays, she appears to -express the lament of her own sorrow. Seeing her you involuntarily think -of what some artless Madonna paintings show; a bleeding heart surrounded -with a wreath of thorns. All the majesty that halos misfortune is -expressed in her carriage, in the accent of her voice. She is beautiful, -but her beauty is as it were veiled behind a dark crape. Truly her art -is many-sided and she plays even gay parts; but what especially -characterizes her is the reflection of human suffering which seems -rather the exposure of her own. You cannot be a spectator of her acting -and fail to be deeply moved, and a soul subjected to such emotion is a -soul ennobled at least during the time while the emotion lasts. - -A German writer; a deep student of natural sciences. A prophet of an -infinitely poetic natural philosophy, thereby exposed to the scornful -and supercilious arrogance of technical and special scientists. Not for -him, to pigeonhole, to ticket, and to number; his outlook embraces the -wide, all-circling horizon; his spirit penetrates into the All-Spirit; -his knowledge and love of Nature soar up into worship; his books are -literary masterpieces. And for this reason pedants are quivering with -scorn, so that their very souls, being so dry, crack if his name is -mentioned. - -A French statesman and politician, a senator, and experienced diplomat: -a man of the world to his finger-tips; full of witty turns and repartees -in conversation; full of clear, conclusive logic in public speech; one -of the most consistent and fearless speakers in the Senate. Fearlessness -characterizes his eloquence, for he speaks against the tendencies of the -day, against the chauvinistic-patriotic majority, against the proposals -of his personal friend, the Minister of the Navy. In matters of -international arbitration he is not only quick to support and suggest, -but moreover to accomplish. To him are due agreements, compromises, -treaties; many a web of ancient misunderstandings and jealousies has -been obliterated from the world through his agency, and on this account -the fanatical supporters of nationalism have even threatened his life. - -An American inventor—one might rather say a wholesale inventor. People -call him the wizard. He conducts his experiments _en gros_, by the -bushel! The number of marvelous works for which his contemporaries and -those to come have to thank him, the things which lift men up to higher -levels of life, are beyond reckoning; and what is finest about them is -that not one of his instruments and pieces of apparatus is designed or -fitted to serve purposes of destruction. The Mecca of all those who -register patents—the ministries of war—is closed to his inventions. What -he has elaborated and accomplished serves not for making human bodies -into pulp; it has the modest aim of making life easier, more beautiful, -and more enjoyable, and of enriching human society. One of his latest -“trouvailles”—that of casting houses out of cement—had, at the time of -the last Rose-Week at Lucerne, already found so much popular acceptance -that quite commonly these cheap, quickly erected, and at the same time -æsthetic and hygienic domiciles were being built,—that is to say, -cast,—and simultaneously an end was put to one of the greatest of -evils—the wretched housing of the poor, from which a third of the -prevalent vice and illness springs. - -A dramatic author from England; sparkling with wit and intellect, who -writes the bitterest satires, but with a background of tenderness; also -an ameliorator of the world and mankind, not, indeed, by saying to men, -“Become better,” but by endeavoring, by his ridicule, to exterminate -whatever makes them bad. He tears off hypocritical masks and shows the -ugly grimaces behind them; on the other hand, he has the knack of -entwining a gentle halo around poor and humble forms, around the -oppressed, the misunderstood, the mistaken. Humor has been defined as a -smile and a tear; in his humor the contrast is much stronger: it is the -sobbing laughter of scorn. - -A Scandinavian woman devoted to philosophy, full of the profound gentle -wisdom of experience: an aged woman, who had never married or borne -children, but who speaks with the tongue of angels about the sacredness -of marriage and the rights of His Majesty the Child: a champion of free, -proud individuality—that is to say, pretty much the same thing as Goethe -called personality and designated as the loftiest happiness. - -An American statesman: the man whose motto runs: “The same moral law -that holds among individuals must also prevail among nations”; a motto -which is diametrically opposed to the principles on which hitherto the -“classical polities” of the most celebrated European statesmen have been -founded. Our American looks back on a long, beneficent career. Peaceful -victories, positive, not negative, peaceful victories, have been won by -him. His great work has been the successful bringing together of the two -halves of America into one great Union. Moreover, during his -administration he has concluded a large number of permanent arbitration -treaties with the States of Europe. Practically unknown to the general -European public, he has cultivated a large part of that soil which -modern culture has won away from the ancient dominion of War. Toker had -a high regard for this man, who of all his guests stood nearest to him. - -Another poet. The son of a small European country. To belong to a -first-class Power is certainly not a condition, not even necessarily a -help, to individual greatness. Dreamy, mysterious almost unreal are this -poet’s stage productions. His prose works, on the contrary, are those of -a clear, perspicuous thinker. - -A German historian: one who has triumphantly introduced a new method -into his range of studies—that of a philosophical synthesis. In his -view, history is not the arraying of events in sequence, not the -biographies of single personages who chance to stand in the foreground, -but a process of social development which conditions the events and the -personages—not the reverse. And he sees and proves that the way of this -development leads always to higher organization; and, because he knows -that and because he makes it known, he aids in hastening humanity’s -course along this way. - -Still another inventor. This one had not as yet won world-repute, for -his invention was of too recent occurrence. But Toker knew him and his -work, and knew that he merited a Grand Cross in the Order of the -Rose-Knights, not only for the greatness of his invention, but also for -the greatness of the object which would be attained by it. Its first -introduction to the public, its first demonstration, was to surprise the -world during this very week. - -A young composer from Russian Poland: a man whose works had come to the -notice of the world during the last two years, but had taken the world -by storm. His operas and symphonies had the most up-to-date richness of -orchestration, the greatest originality of harmony, but were permeated -by a heavenly sweetness of melody, such as had not in long years, -perhaps never before, been heard. For this Rose-Week he had brought his -latest creation, never as yet publicly performed,—a quartette for -violin, harmonium, harp, and baritone voice, entitled “Le Chant des -Roses.” It was perfectly appropriate that music and song should also -have their part in this festal week which stood under the symbol of -Height Achievement. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - A LUNCHEON PARTY - - -A small company of hotel guests who had been lunching together were -sitting at their black coffee in a large special salon. It was the first -day of the second Rose-Week, and the opening festival was to take place -that evening. The conversation of the gay little party, which consisted -of two ladies and four gentlemen, turned on the programme of the -exercises. - -One of the ladies was a Russian countess, a woman no longer young,—she -must have been more than forty,—but still handsome and very elegant; she -was the hostess at the luncheon. The other lady was a young widow, -Annette Felsen, the cousin and companion of the countess; very lively, -gay, and coquettish. The gentlemen were an elderly Frenchman, easily -recognized as a former officer; a tall dark-eyed Italian, also past his -first youth, for his wavy black hair was shot through with many silver -threads. His name was Marchese Romeo Rinotti—a name which had a good -repute in the political world and played a prominent part in the -ministerial council of the kingdom. The two other gentlemen were Bruning -and Regenburg. - -The conversation ran now in French, now in German. Bruning had just been -reading from the paper the names of Toker’s guests, and then remarked -that Chlodwig Helmer, who on the following day was to read from his poem -“Schwingen,” was a friend of his. - -“Ah,” cried the Countess Vera, “that is interesting—you must introduce -him to us—I dote on poets ... not so much as on musicians, though. I -confess frankly that what attracts me most in the whole programme is ‘Le -Chant des Roses.’ This young Pole is simply divine ... though I don’t -like the Poles, because they hate us. But what kind of a man is your -friend?” - -“Oh, a fine fellow, only somewhat high-strung. I also know Fräulein -Garlett. She, too, comes from my country. I should like to see these two -make a match; they are admirably suited to each other: neither is quite -normal and she is extremely rich. I should like to see my friend marry -her.” - -“But isn’t this girl an agitator for the emancipation of women?” asked -the old Frenchman, Baron Gaston de la Rochère? “One does not marry such -a person.” - -Madame Annette Felsen laughed: “Why, but you are quite _vieux jeu_, my -dear Baron, quite _ancien régime_....” - -The baron straightened himself up. “Yes, I flatter myself.... In this -degenerating world there certainly ought to be a few people who stand by -the old principles, the old true ideals. I am very anxious to know what -doctrines the ladies and gentlemen of the Rose Order are going to -preach. They will scarcely develop in a fitting way the highest concept -there is: that of patriotism—since they belong to the most diversified -countries, often opposed and unfriendly to one another; and then tact -will forbid their expressing openly their patriotic wishes. By the whole -make-up of the programme and by many suspicious names among the -participants—for example, I would never have sent here as a -representative of France the Frenchman who is going to speak—by the -various names, I believe there is danger that revolutionary ideas will -be put forward more than is desirable. Indeed, the old order and the -sacred traditions are so shaken that only a good war could possibly set -things straight again. Then we should have the chance to restore to the -throne of France a monarch appointed by God, one who would once for all -drive out the radical and free-masonic rabble which at the present time -puts our country to shame. And even if there were no one of royal blood, -still if there were a victorious soldier—a war-hero....” - -Countess Vera uttered a little shriek. “Do not speak of war, mon -colonel ... it is now many years ago ... but the Manchurian campaign -with all its consequences still trembles in all my nerves.... Didn’t the -peasants burn my castle? The war itself would not have been anything ... -that is as God wills; but the terrible revolution afterwards ... and -that would break out again after another war ... there are so many -nihilists among us. It was, indeed, a piece of good luck that they could -choke off the revolution—the saints helped once more, and genuine -Russians remained faithful to the Tsar, who ought never to have granted -a constitution....” - -“Vera, Vera,” interrupted Madame Annette, “do not talk about politics. -There, please light a cigarette.... I will take one, too, and if -politics is to be talked about, then will you do the talking, Marchese! -you certainly ought to understand the subject, you who are the diplomat, -the prominent statesman, the Italian Bismarck!” - -The marchese offered the ladies a light. “A diplomat,” said he, “should -rather be silent than speak, but I can comfort the colonel by saying -that the prospects for a war in Europe are growing brighter and -brighter. Perhaps he will see the beautiful times of the _ancien régime_ -return. As far as I am concerned, my yearning to bring back the past -goes still farther back. The only true, beautiful, fiery, proud life was -at the time of the Renaissance. Life was not regarded, men took no care -of it, but they lived intensely.... Those adventures, those riotous -magnificences of living and of art, that wild existence, that lordly -power of unscrupulousness!...” - -He had worked himself into a passion of eloquence, and at his final -words an almost Satanic smile, which showed his white teeth, flickered -around his mouth. Annette looked at him in amazement:— - -“You would have made a splendid _condottiere_, signor. What do _you_ -say, Herr Regenburg?” - -The famous sportsman had scarcely understood; he was not very fluent in -French, but now that he was called upon to give his opinion, he had to -say something, whether well or ill. He tittered rather idiotically. - -“Why, yes, my dear lady, it is fine to have a bit of a row; we must have -some slashing about.... But you are quite right, Marchese, and so are -you, Colonel—the old days ought to come back again.” - -He waved his liqueur-glass and emptied it at one gulp.... - -“Old times do not return,” said Bruning; “neither the times of Napoleon, -nor those of the Sun-King, nor those of the Medici. But whoever delights -in unscrupulousness and lack of consideration has no need to mourn over -the present: attacking and oppressing, in order to attain power or to -preserve it, is still in sway, even though in a different manner, and -will probably always continue, for the emblems of worldly success remain -claws and teeth—or at least elbows.” - -A hotel valet came in and handed Bruning a card. - -“Ah, my friend Helmer,” said he, rising. “Allow me, ladies and -gentlemen, to leave you; I must receive him.” - -“Is that the poet—the author of ‘Schwingen’?” asked Countess Vera. -“Please ask him to come here; we should all be so pleased to meet him.” - -“If you permit it”; and, turning to the servant: “Show the gentleman -in.” - -Bruning went to meet Helmer at the door: “’Twas good of you to look me -up. You find me in a little company who are eager to make your -acquaintance. Allow me to present you: my fellow-countryman and -schoolmate, the boldest aviator of the present....” - -Helmer shook his head: “I have never been in an airship in my life.” - -“But you fly up into the bluest heights on the wings of your verse.” - -“Indeed; I had always heard only of verse-feet.” - -Bruning continued his introductions: “The Countess Vera Petrovna -Solnikova, of Petersburg, who has had the kindness to invite us to a -feast of Lucullus; Madame Felsen, from Reval; Baron Gaston de la -Rochère, from Bretagne; His Excellency, Marchese Rinotti, from Rome, the -coming director of the destinies of Italy; and this is Herr Regenburg, -the well-known Viennese sportsman. And now, tell us—does the -Rose-Spectacle start off to-day?” - -The Countess Vera motioned Helmer to sit down and offered him a cup of -coffee, which he accepted. - -“Yes,” said she; “tell us how it is all planned—the programme is so -indefinite. Shall we hear you to-day?” - -“No, not to-day. To-day a great man is going to speak,”—and he mentioned -the name of the French author,—“and there are to be others. Yet I must -not tell you. It is characteristic of Mr. Toker’s programme, that no -programme is announced. If the public should know in advance on which -day this or that person was to speak and know what would be the subject, -then they would be able to pick and choose, and Mr. Toker wants all to -be heard by all. It is like a salon, where the guests do not know what -sort of artistic offerings are to be presented. It is all a surprise.” - -“If I can only succeed in hearing one of that divine Polish master’s -compositions, than I shall be rewarded for having made the journey to -Lucerne,” said the countess, with a sentimental upward glance of her -eyes. “And you, Annette, you are especially crazy over Mlle. Garlett, -the famous feminist, aren’t you?” - -“Yes, that I am, although I do not care about women’s rights, but I have -heard so much about that lady....” - -“Fräulein Garlett is no ‘_Feminist_,’” interrupted Helmer eagerly, “and -she does not preach emancipation. She is not so desirous of winning -rights for women as of doing away with ancient prerogatives, which they -possess to the injury of all.” - -“How so? what prerogatives?” asked the others. - -“Of being idle; of having an empty brain; of disclaiming all care for -the common weal; of thinking themselves absolved from the bother of -logical thought ... and so of robbing humanity of half its intellectual -working power.” - -“I don’t understand you,” said Annette. - -“Oh, I understand!” exclaimed M. de la Rochère. “Women are to mix in -politics. How advantageous that is has been shown by the _tricoteuses_ -around the guillotine and the _pétroleuses_ during the Commune.... Woman -is a _créature d’amour_.... Wife, mistress, odalisque ... that is our -French ideal!” - -“In Germany, also, a feminine ideal has been established,” remarked -Bruning; “that of three capital K’s:—_Kirche_, _Kinder_, _Küche_—church, -children, kitchen.” - -The Italian Minister turned the conversation: “Do you know, Herr Helmer, -two years ago, when I was passing through Berlin, I attended the -première of your last drama and was delighted at its great success. I -hope the piece is to be given soon on the Italian stage.” - -“Indeed, Your Excellency, that has actually been arranged for—it is to -be presented next winter at Milan.” - -“Unless in the mean time,” said Bruning, laughing, “the great European -war should break out which the signor marchese predicts.” - -Helmer shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, yes, that famous unavoidable -European war of the future, which has been announced for many long -years, but which nevertheless, so far, has been warded off.” - -“So you still think it avoidable, do you?” asked the Countess Vera. - -“I consider it impossible. Unless Europe takes up with a suicidal -policy.” - -Bruning tapped Helmer on the shoulder: “This shows what an incorrigible -idealist you are—deaf and blind to the coarse realities of life. You -look on men as angels, while in reality they are beasts.” - -Helmer impatiently shook Bruning’s hand from his shoulder: “Present -company excepted, it is to be hoped,” said he. “But you know that I will -not have a controversy with you.” - -The sportsman wanted to smooth things over. “It is to be hoped that Herr -Helmer is right—for if a war were to break out, all securities would go -down seriously. But still, if it should happen, it would be a wholesome -letting of blood. And who can prevent the decrees of history?” - -“Oh, history, history,” exclaimed Helmer, in a tone of vexation. “Does -history make us or do we make history? If you put yourself before the -mirror and make up faces, can one say, when there is an ugly reflection, -‘who can prevent the grimaces of the mirror’?” - -“There is no use discussing,” said the marchese. “On general grounds it -seems to me, my dear poet, that you do not have a very sound -comprehension of affairs here below. You soar up into a world of thought -and do not see what positive facts bring. You do not know what seething -and fermentation are going on in the lower regions of political and -social life; how friction and tension are increasing, and how -ultimately—and very soon, too,—there must be an explosion.” - -“In other words, you consider me blind, Your Excellency? Of course, I -know right well that there is seething and fermentation. It certainly -cannot continue as it is now; a mighty change—what you call an -explosion—is before us,—I agree to that. We have entered upon the age of -the air, the age of the heights. The depths are to be left behind. All -that is low is to be conquered. Not by forcible destruction—but it will -disappear, will sink away.... Have you ever made a voyage in an airship -and gone up high, Your Excellency? If you have, you found that it was -not so much a mounting into the upper regions as it was a sinking away -of what was below. I know of things which are in preparation, which are -unknown to you and which are to be revealed during our Rose-Week. In our -midst sojourns an inventor, a conqueror ... yet I must not betray -secrets.” He stood up. “I must be going. I hope I shall see you all this -evening at our opening session.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - DREAMS OF LOVE - - - “Ninon, Ninon, que fais-tu de la vie, toi qui vis sans amour?” - -The text of this song haunted Franka’s memory. She was reclining on the -couch in her little salon, her arms crossed behind her head, her eyes -closed. - -The red silk shades at the windows were drawn and a ruddy twilight -permeated the room. All the salons in the suites put at the disposal of -Mr. Toker’s guests had red hangings and white walls. The chairs and -sofas were rose-colored. The carpets showed red roses on a white ground. -The sleeping-rooms were also upholstered in these two colors, and the -bathrooms attached to each apartment were fitted with rose-marble. Toker -did not want his guests to be for a single minute free from the spell of -roses. Even the water, as it flowed through the faucets at the -washstands, was perfumed with roses, and rose-scented soap was provided. -The chandeliers were of pale-rose glass and a rose-colored shade -protected every electric lamp. - -Frau Eleonore was sitting at the writing-table of the little salon and -was writing picture-postcards for the whole circle of her acquaintance. -Now and then she interrupted this occupation and glanced over at Franka. - -“There, you have been lying for almost an hour perfectly motionless, my -dear; were you asleep?” - -“No, only thinking.” - -“Were you meditating on your coming address?” - -“No, I am thinking—for a wonder—of myself. I am putting Franka Garlett -timid questions and she is answering them hesitatingly.” - -“Might one know what the subject of this interesting inquisition is?” - -“It is too vague to be expressed in words.” - -“Yet I think I can imagine: the first question put by the inquisitor to -the victim runs: ‘Confess! how did yesterday’s prince please you?’” - -“You think so, do you?” She shook her head, laughing; “you are on the -wrong track.” - -“Indeed! Then, perhaps....” - -“Please do not _you_ take upon yourself the office of investigator.... -Instead, please go on writing your ‘cordial greetings from Lucerne’ and -let me think for a while longer.” - -“Very well; I must post a dozen or more cards before the mail is -collected.” - -Franka again took up the thread of her thoughts as before.... “_Toi qui -vis sans amour._” ... Now for the first time, called up by Frau -Eleonore’s jesting words, arose Victor Adolph’s picture before her. She -had certainly not been thinking of him before. Only of love in general: -not even of that—rather of the sense of troublous unsatisfying yearning -which occasionally took possession of her and caused her pain—a feeling -of emptiness, of melancholy ... and as if to give some explanation for -it, she had been repeating to herself the words of that French song. - -Was it possible that her life’s failure consisted in the fact that it -was without love? She had given herself with zeal and enthusiasm to a -great idea, to a great object, and had relentlessly waved aside -everything else. She had accomplished her lofty task and her success had -brought her great satisfaction. She had made known perfectly new -theories regarding the rights and duties of women and had been able to -impose them on others. So successful had her work been that she had won -a reputation confirmed by her enrollment in the Order of the Knights of -the Roses, and yet ... and yet ... there was this yearning.... What for? -If it were for love, how came it that no one of those who had come into -her vicinity had awakened that passion in her heart? Not one had -attracted her, or even for a moment put her senses into a tumult. Though -often, whether in a dream or in a book she was reading, the glamour of -artistic impressions or of mild spring nights, a sudden glow swept -through her veins, oppressing her, it was never associated with the -image of any special man. And if an impulse swelled her heart toward -tenderness,—not toward passionate bliss, but toward a sincere, gentle -tenderness,—then she had no idea whom she should bless with it. - -No, she had not been thinking of the prince; she was trying to formulate -another recollection of the evening before: that moment, when in her -terror at a vision in the firmament, she had rested her hand on Helmer’s -arm ... and the feeling of calmness, of refuge, of sweet security, which -had come over her. Once again, now that the interruption caused by Frau -Eleonore was past, she closed her eyes and tried to recall her former -sensation: she succeeded in doing so: the sense of refuge and security -was there once more, and sweetly rang the words: “A warm house and a -loving heart in it”.... - -“Dear heart,” she murmured. - -Frau Eleonore stood up: “What did you say? Do you wish anything?” - -At the same instant a groom entered and brought a great gilded basket -filled with Parma violets. A visiting-card lay in it: Prince Victor -Adolph von X——. - - -When Helmer took his departure, Bruning also bade good-bye to the little -luncheon coterie with the intention of accompanying his friend. - -“You still owe me a call,” said he; “won’t you come up to my room for a -little while? No? Then let me go a part of the way with you. How did you -like the two ladies? Shall I tell you something about them?” - -“I’d rather hear about the Italian Minister—the man interests me.” - -“I can believe it. There is no one in all Europe more interesting at the -present time. He is of the clay from which the Cavours, the Talleyrands, -the Bismarcks, and the Chamberlains are made. One who can talk fluently -of future events, of fermentations and collisions, because he himself is -one who causes events to come, who ferments and collides.” - -“Oh, is that so?” - -“You swear by that school which does not believe in the power of -individuals to influence the history of nations? It is your idea, that -the nameless masses, that all-powerful Necessity, and the like, -condition the course of history....” - -“There you are again with your ‘history.’ If you mean by it the changes -that result from universal conditions, then, certainly, the laws of -nature and the nameless masses, unconsciously obeying them, form the -motive power; but if it concerns the events that are brought about by -the intrigues of diplomats and despots and the newspapers that are -subservient to them, then I grant that this kind of history is made by -ambitious and unscrupulous individuals.” - -“Well, then, if that is understood, my Romeo Rinotti is just a -history-maker. ‘Unscrupulousness’ is his fetish ... in fact, it _is_ the -reasonable basis of all real politics. Rinotti is not as yet at the -helm, else a portentous chapter in the history of our century would have -been written long ago; but he will yet come to the helm, and then ... -well, he makes no secret of the lofty aims which he has conceived for -the grandeur and glory of his country. Whether he will attain them is, -indeed, another question; I have _my_ doubts; for fortunately we in -Austria, we also have resolute men in leading positions ... a fine, -proud imperialism has flowered since Aehrenthal’s great stroke of -genius; and our military strength, as well as that of our allies, is to -be reckoned with.... Our fleet of airships also makes a good showing. So -Rinotti’s bold plans will scarcely be fulfilled, in spite of all Slavic -assistance ... but whatever the consequences may be, the impulse will -suffice, as I said, to produce a mighty chapter in history. I must say, -although the man is really our enemy, he inspires me with respect, -because of his powerful will: universal history needs such chaps. At the -same time, he is a fascinating man.... The women are all crazy over -him ... that Baltic woman, for example.... Did you notice how her eyes -were riveted on him? If the Countess Solnikova has not fallen under his -spell, it is only thanks to her fancy for your composer.... But here I -am chattering away and you do not say a word ... apparently you are up -in the clouds again, your favorite habitation, and probably have not -been listening to what I said.” - -“On the contrary, I have been listening with all attention. What you -tell me of Rinotti interests me immensely. It proves clearly, once more, -how our official world is still entangled in the ancient concepts and -methods, how men cannot see what the needs of the age are. They do not -suspect that the epoch of cabinet intrigues is just as obsolete, though -not so far removed from us, as the Tertiary or the Miocene period. Or -are we really still in the very midst of it? Am I the one who does not -see the actuality, because my eyes are fixed too eagerly on the future, -just as the eyes of the Rinottis and their admirers are directed toward -the past? However, I am very grateful to you, for what you have told me -shows how imperative the work is which must be the outcome of the -Rose-Week.” - -“You incorrigible visionary! Do you really imagine that Toker, Helmer, -and Company are going to lift the world out of its hinges? I have -permitted myself to compare the undertaking of this worthy firm to -Hagenbeck; I might have said that it is a great cosmopolitan -variety-show ... well, I am curious; especially for your number on the -programme:—‘Mr. Chlodwig Helmer, prestidigitator on the poets’ ladder.’ -But here we are at your lodgings—I will leave you. No offense, I -hope....” - -Helmer shrugged his shoulders: “I know you of old, and if I am inwardly -annoyed at your cynicism, I don’t lay it up against you.” - -“And I likewise pardon you for calling my modicum of common sense and -mother wit cynicism. Such a long-established comradeship isn’t going to -be broken up by such quizzing. The earth would be boresome if it -contained nothing but mere practical people—a few dreamers must be -allowed to practice their somnambulism. _Servus_, old fellow.” - -Bruning said good-bye at the entrance door of the Rose-Palace; Helmer, -however, did not go in, but walked off in another direction. The -conversation with his boyhood friend had given a serious trend to his -thoughts, and he was not inclined at the moment to meet any of Mr. -Toker’s guests and converse with them. He preferred a solitary walk. - -He knew a path which led from the shore of the lake to a distant grove -where it was very silent and pleasant: thither he directed his steps. He -had often in his life found that when he was vexed with men—either with -individual men or with human society at large—he was immediately -pacified by taking refuge with Nature. To him Nature, the mother of all -creatures—Nature, the generous, the life-abounding, the sublime, the -unfathomable, the inexorable keeper of her own mysteries, the never -disobedient servant of her own laws, the spendthrift and miser of her -own treasures—to him Nature was not some thing, but some one. A some one -whom he loved with awe and whose magical gifts he accepted as the token -of some measure of reciprocal love. - -He strolled for some distance along the shore of the lake; boats large -and small were darting across its mirror-like surface. Snow-capped -mountains arose in the background. Helmer appreciated the imposing -beauty of the whole landscape; but what he wanted to find was a retired, -circumscribed spot without a broad outlook, without the effect of -theatrical decorations or panoramic views, a little place, where he -might be alone with a few trees and a few wild flowers. So he turned -aside into a narrow path between two wooded hills, and after a short -walk entered the dark, cool corner which he was looking for. There -nothing was to be seen worthy of being called “a splendid region” or of -being remarked as bearing a characteristic Swiss flavor; the little -assemblage of firs and birches, of oaks and beeches, of stunted bushes, -of mossy stones, and tall grasses might have been duplicated in any -other place in Europe. The sunlight danced in the lightly waving foliage -and a delicious perfume of gum and strawberries filled the air. Blue and -yellow and rose-colored flowers were blooming all about, wooed by -fluttering white butterflies. Then there was a dreamily monotonous music -of humming bees, chirping crickets, and murmuring brooks, now and then -interrupted by the clear call of the blackbird. - -Helmer flung himself down in the grass at the foot of a leafy beech tree -and—breathed. Really he did nothing else—without thoughts, without -recollections, he lay there awhile and merely breathed. Long, joyous -inhalations, just like all the plant brethren around him, the life of -which is scornfully called “vegetating,” although it is perhaps the -purest form of the joy of existence. He contemplated a tiny beetle which -was climbing laboriously up a swaying blade of grass, and in doing so -lost its balance. A pair of very industrious ants, laden with -building-materials, hastened by. A little green worm wriggled -circumspectly, and as it drew its tail up to its head it made an arch, -then stretched itself out again in order to make another—a complicated -method of locomotion. - -Helmer followed with friendly eyes all these movements which seem so -important to those who make them. Also a beautiful gift of Nature, he -said to himself, this consciousness of importance which is common to the -most insignificant little creature, and which confers upon it a sort of -dignity. And thus he began once more to take up the thread of thought. -And the things also which he wanted to escape from began once more to -recur in his mind: all the scornful, stupid, harmful conversation of all -those people whose judgments and behavior lay so far removed from the -realm toward which his poetic activities and yearning ran. In the circle -of the Knighthood of the Rose, to be sure, he had found kindred spirits, -all working like himself to prepare the coming kingdom; but there were -only two or three dozen of them, and the others were millions, and among -them the very ones that had the most power and influence, rank and -station ... they form the great public and we ... we are a number or two -in a variety-show. - -He shook his head. No, that is not true. We also have millions behind -us—dumb, yearning millions, who are only waiting for the liberating act. -The liberating act, however, must be forestalled by the liberating -word ... so let us first say just what we have to say. - -He passed in review the scheme of his poem. Did it express everything -that in hours of inspiration swept before his mind? Alas, no! Far, far -from it—there still remained much work for him to do. The problems, the -subjects crowded in upon him—every day with its new experiences brought -new ideas. Especially this last week, by contact with the great artists -and thinkers, who surpassed him in so many ways, so many new horizons -had opened before him. It was, indeed, a marvelous company. Franka must -assuredly be grateful to him that she had been invited to be present, -for he had suggested to her the career which she had so brilliantly -followed. Franka ... his thoughts dwelt longer at this name, at the -picture which it called up. How confidingly, how beseechingly, as if -asking his aid, she had clung to him.... It made his heart glow. He was -not thinking now of her genius, of her beauty, but rather of that -helplessness ... oh, if he could only hold her in his arms to protect -her and to comfort her.... Pshaw, what nonsense! she needed no -protection; she was a wealthy, influential lady, with everything at her -command. Yesterday, after that brief minute on the terrace, she went -into the salon and was instantly surrounded; that prince had paid her -his homage most openly. And such a handsome, seductive man that Victor -Adolph.... If she, the proud beauty, wanted to have a love-affair, what -more did she need to do than make a sign in order to have her pick among -the highest, the most distinguished?... “Can it be that I am jealous?... -No, thank God, I am not in love with her; one does not covet the stars. -I will even advise her now to think of her own happiness. It was my -fault to a certain degree that she, so Joan-of-Arc-like, shut her heart -up in an iron breastplate. I gave her that counsel, that terrible -counsel....” - - - - - CHAPTER XV - RINOTTI AND PRINCE VICTOR ADOLPH - - -The Marchese Rinotti, after having taken his leave of the Countess Vera -and her cousin, went to his room to see whether during his absence -anything had come to him by mail requiring his attention. He was -expecting important advices. Although he was traveling for pleasure and -recreation, still he kept in constant touch with all the activities of -his post, and even here was working in the business which he was -secretly trying to further. - -He was in a highly excited state of mind. The news that he had read in -the morning’s papers indicated a crisis in various controversies, the -obscuration of certain points on the political horizon; and this -furnished a favorable field for his plans. What especially intensified -his excitement was the retrospect of the last two hours, during which it -had become clear to him that the pretty Baltic widow was passionately in -love with him. She had sat next him at table. Those side glances, that -coquettish smile, aye, even that far from abrupt drawing back of her -little foot when he had accidentally touched it with his.... Rinotti was -accustomed to this kind of triumph, but it always delighted him to see -the evident signs of his mastery of the female heart—a double triumph, -because he no longer possessed the attractive power of youth;—therefore -it must be really something magnetic, something hypnotic and peculiar in -him ... or was it merely the force of his will, of his violent desires? -There is nothing like violence; one may condemn it as brutal as much as -one will—therein lies strength in war and in love. With such -“Renaissance” thoughts he took up his bundle of letters, documents, and -dispatches which were waiting for him on his writing-table and now set -to work merrily. - -He had an hour and a half free: at four o’clock he was to call on Prince -Victor Adolph, to whom, since he was a royal highness, he wanted to show -his profound respect. That the prince belonged to a country with which, -according to Rinotti’s calculations, a conflict was imminent, was no -obstacle. The letters interested him intensely. The correspondents whom -he had delegated in England and France, in Germany and Austria, in -Russia and the Balkans, communicated to him details of all kinds of -transparent intrigues even when there was nothing to see through, for -they knew his predilections for diplomatic subterfuges and underground -paths, and realized that their reports would be regarded as all the more -sapient, the more they discovered evil motives concealed behind all -political transactions and demonstrations. - -Rinotti jotted down on a sheet of paper notes wherein swarmed a -profusion of references to movements of troops, blockades of boundaries, -_communiqués_, airship works, and the like. In the same breath he -scribbled on another sheet of paper detached words and sentences like -“Splendid creature,” “lovely one,” “You must be mine,” “devouring fire,” -and other ingredients of a glowing _billet doux_ which that very evening -he proposed to slip into Annette’s hands at the Rose-Festival. - -In the mean time Victor Adolph was expecting the promised visit. He was -sitting on his balcony and lying back comfortably in a rocking-chair, -with a book in his hand and a cigarette between his lips. He was not -alone. His constant attendant, General von Orell, adjutant, tutor, -_compagnon de plaisir_, paternal friend, and master of ceremonies, all -in one person, was resting in a second rocking-chair, also engaged in -smoking and reading. Only he was puffing a strong imported cigar and was -reading a military aëronautical journal. - -Victor Adolph glanced up from his reading: “Why, he is a real poet, this -Helmer.... You ought to read ‘Schwingen,’ Orell, since you are so much -interested in aviation, as I see from the title-picture of your -journal.” - -The general politely laid his journal aside, as his prince was pleased -to address him. - -“Never read poems, Your Royal Highness.” - -“I know that, you are too ‘matter-of-fact’ for such things.” - -“Too what?” The general did not understand the English expression used -by the prince. - -“Too sober, too cold-hearted, too skeptical, too....” - -“Too prosaic. Granted. Dry common sense. Practical mind. I flatter -myself.” - -“What news in your journal? Any great advance in the art of flying?” - -“Yes, great supplies of explosives can be carried by airships.” - -“Really? What a blessing.... Will not Signor Rinotti be here shortly?” - -Orell glanced at his watch:— - -“Quarter of an hour.” - -The general preferred not to say more words than were necessary. - -“Have the violets been sent to the Rose-Palace?” - -“Yes, Your Royal Highness. Pretty girl. But a bluestocking.... Shame!” - -“Fräulein Garlett does not give the impression of being a bluestocking, -but she is very clever.” - -“Women should not be clever.” - -The prince laughed. “You are fearfully _vieux jeu_, my dear Orell.” - -“Fearfully what?” - -“Old-fashioned.” - -“I flatter myself; hate all modern follies. Modern technique, especially -the technique of arms, also the modern mode of warfare interests me. -Your Royal Highness is far too little interested in such things. Here -are the experiences of the Russo-Japanese campaign....” - -“I know them. There is some of that in Veresayef’s ‘Recollections of a -Physician,’ and in Leonid Andreyef’s ‘Red Laughter.’” - -“Your Royal Highness reads bad books with the rest.” - -“A piece of genuine good fortune that my royal father has not -commissioned you to censor my reading.” - -“But his Majesty recommended me to procure useful books for Your Royal -Highness.” - -“Yes, yes; those dealing with military science and Byzantine history. -But I throw aside all such rubbish.” - -“And read socialistic pamphlets.” - -“What if I do? The social question interests me.” - -“Me, too. Must be settled. I know how to.” - -“Truly, do you know that? Here behold me all eagerness! Tell me how.” - -“Annihilate the whole crowd.” - -A cloud of dissatisfaction darkened Victor Adolph’s face, but he made no -reply. He had no desire to be drawn into a dispute. Orell’s views were -well known to him and he avoided as far as possible affording him any -opportunity of expressing them. He took up his book again and lighted a -fresh cigarette. Yet he did not read; he only let his mind dwell on the -theme that had been broached. The social question really interested him -intensely, and not superficially either; he had studied the thing -itself. He had long been secretly a subscriber to “Vorwärts,” and many -times he had succeeded in smuggling himself into the assemblies of the -local labor union, and once he had been present, unrecognized, at an -international congress of Socialists. Not everything was clear to him in -the doctrinaire aspects of the question, but deep in his heart he was on -the side of those who are trying to obtain for the masses of the nations -the joys and dignities of life. In order to get a clear notion of the -battle against poverty, he would have had to make a study of poverty and -see for himself; and then horrible abysses of woe would have opened -before him; abysses of which people of his class and in general of all -classes, that do not belong to the proletariat, have for the most part -no conception. - -And one thing particularly embittered him: the fearful lack of -comprehension which he met with when he merely mentioned the subject in -his own circles. No one seemed to have an idea of what was at issue. -Poverty? Yes, that was found everywhere, but it always had existed and -always would exist: there is no remedy, except to distribute alms, to -establish free soup-kitchens, and so on, and that sort of thing is -provided generously. To practice charity is certainly one of the -cardinal virtues, and a host of people, notably the women of princely -families, are in the front ranks, setting a good example!... - -Naturally, there are also discontented people—the lazy who do not want -to work or the rascally fellows who are always after higher wages in -order to have more gin to drink. But especially guilty of the discontent -are the agitators, the so-called leaders, the mischief-making -demagogues. Opposition parties, revolutionary parties,—such have always -been,—and the only remedy against them is iron firmness. As a last -resort one always has the military to preserve the established order. -Force is the best, indeed, the only security: the threat of armed force -restrains the rabble. Without this wholesome fear the Reds would soon be -on hand to plunder property-owners or to vote that all property should -be shared equally—such nonsense! As if after such a division the -industrious and the clever would not shortly possess more than the lazy -and the rascally, and then there would be an end of all the famous -equality ... no, no, those are idle dreams.... Inequality is founded on -Nature. - -These and similar phrases Victor Adolph had always been obliged to hear -when Socialism was mentioned in his environment. With especial violence -the opponents of a cause always succeed in demolishing the postulates -that are never put forward by its advocates. “Equal division of -property”—what Socialist would have ever demanded such a thing? Public -possession, State possession is not equally divided possession—it is -common possession, like the air we breathe. - -The prevalent misconception which aroused Victor Adolph’s wrath extended -not only to the nature of the social movement, but also to its progress. -What it has already accomplished in organization, in clearing the way, -what it is on the point of doing, those who stand aloof do not know. -They frequently talk about the laws of nature, but only to draw from -them the conclusion that all things will and must remain as they are. -And they are ready to assist this well-beloved _vis inertiæ_ with laws -and clubs and cannon, but what the existing circumstances, what the -events will bring forth in natural consequences;—they have no notion -about that. With irresponsible frivolity they let come what may. They -see nothing of the approaching flood; should there really be a shower or -two, they have their umbrellas ready. - -Victor Adolph had not himself penetrated far enough into the domain of -social and economic affairs to predict how the movement would develop, -but he followed it with deep sympathy, and was impelled to do so by two -honorable motives,—desire for knowledge and love for his fellow-men. - -The prince was aroused from his thoughts by the announcement—“His -Excellency, Marchese Rinotti.” The general went to meet the visitor and -brought him to the prince. After the first ceremonious greetings had -been exchanged, obsequiously on the part of the diplomat, with friendly -dignity on the part of the prince, the prince invited the marchese to -sit down, and began the conversation with the question: “Is it decided -that your king is coming here this week?” - -“Yes, Your Royal Highness, in three days His Majesty will arrive.” - -“And will he attend the exercises in the Rose-Palace?” - -“That is his intention.” - -“A great honor for the American,” remarked the general. - -The prince shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I doubt if Mr. Toker has so -much awe before crowned heads as your loyal mind ascribes to him, my -dear Orell.” - -“I have my doubts as to that point, also,” said Rinotti. “Mr. Toker -belongs to that caste of moneyed potentates who regard themselves as -kings. And in a certain sense they are, indeed, for they wield a -dominion over a monstrous, a sinister power. Old Europe must take -precious good care of her prestige, must stick closer than ever to her -traditions, if she would hold her own against the spirit of -Americanism.” - -“That is a vague term,” said the prince. “What do you mean by -‘Americanism’?” - -Rinotti’s keen-cut face took on a contemptuous expression. “I mean by it -stock-jobbery and wild quest for money; lack of ideality, of anything -romantic, of heroism; their poverty in historical recollections and -national art amply accounts for this. They have nothing of all that -which constitutes our pride, which enriches and ennobles us: ancient -monuments, cathedrals, old paintings, famous field-marshals, illustrious -families, glorious dynasties of rulers—all that is missing to the New -World; and what can it offer in their place?—sky-scrapers, gigantic -steel, meat, and oil trusts, California gold-mines, and possibly Niagara -Falls! That I will grant as the one thing poetic—but in everything else -it is a land of mediocrity, of aridity, of the barrenest prose.” - -The general nodded his assent: “Quite right.” - -Victor Adolph angrily crushed his cigarette into the ash-tray. “You say, -‘Quite right.’ I say, ‘Quite false,’ essentially false. I know America. -You do not know it. I spent a year at Harvard University. You have no -conception of the warmth of enthusiasm, of the generosity, of the wide -outlook, of the world-embracing ideas—in a word, of the lofty ideals -which animate that free, youthful-hearted people....” - -“What fire, Your Royal Highness!” exclaimed the marchese. “Your own -youthful enthusiasm is speaking. I love it and I admire it, especially -in a Northerner.” - -The prince made an impatient deprecatory gesture with his hand. “Do you -know,” said he, “that the International Agricultural Institute in Rome, -the foundation of which was a great glory for King Victor Emanuel III, -because it is intended for the service and advantage of all men, owes -its origin to an American? The man’s name was Lubin. He made a trip to -Europe on purpose to bring this idea of his to the sovereigns; with your -king, whose mind is open to grand new ideas, he found appreciation and -support.” - -“I am glad Your Royal Highness has so good an opinion of my sovereign. I -hope also that Italy under his scepter will continue to accumulate -stores of glory. My country faces great tasks....” - -“Undoubtedly,” interrupted Victor Adolph; “for example, the amelioration -of poverty in Sicily, the drainage of all malaria-producing swamps, the -diminution of the illiterate ... oh, great tasks are to be performed -everywhere, not in Italy alone....” - -“In America as well?” asked Rinotti ironically. - -“Certainly, in America as well; and possibly the example will be given -us from there.” - -The prince stood up. Rinotti understood this to be a hint that the -interview was at an end: he also arose and took a ceremonious farewell. -The general accompanied him to the door and then returned to the prince. - -“Desires to thank you again for your gracious reception.” - -“The man is antipathetic to me,” replied the prince. - -“He is false. Intriguer. Mind full of mischief. That is evident. Intends -to play our ally nasty tricks; only waiting till he becomes Prime -Minister. Then things will explode! Boundless ambition. Believes that -with the Italian airships—and it is true they are swift—they can -annihilate Austria’s fleet. But we are all ready for him.” - -“You are always imagining wars and rumors of wars, my dear Orell, like -the Old Men’s chorus in ‘Faust.’ But if that worthy statesman should -really have such notions up his sleeve, he would run counter to his -king’s desire for peace. And, moreover, the Italian people have some -sense.” - -“What is that—the people?” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE SIELENBURG PARTY - - -Elderly ladies of the Austrian aristocracy have no great inclination for -traveling. While for a hundred years it has been the fashion in England -to make a tour on the Continent, and while in the days of mail-coaches, -noblewomen, young and old, were accustomed to accompany their spouses to -Switzerland and to Italy, to Paris and to the German baths, the ladies -of the Austrian nobility have only reluctantly quitted their castles in -order to journey to other countries. Since traveling has been made so -easy and expeditious, especially since automobiles came into fashion, -the younger feminine element of the higher Austrian circles have -ventured to make trips into distant lands. But even at the time of the -Rose-Week, there were among the elder aristocratic women some who had -never before set foot outside the boundaries of the Empire. Among these -was the Countess Adele Schollendorf. But, nevertheless, one fine June -morning the old lady, accompanied by her cousin Albertine, started for -Lucerne. Two cavaliers also made up the party: Cousin Coriolan and Baron -Ludwig Malhof. - -The motive of the expedition was curiosity. Count Sielen’s sister had -become quite estranged from her grand-niece since the latter had begun -to appear on the public platform. The affair was too distasteful to -her—it cut entirely across all her prejudices. Franka had, indeed, lost -nothing in reputation and respect by her action—on the contrary; but the -old countess could not be reconciled to it. She did not go so far as to -indulge in open reproach and rupture, being restrained by the fact that -she was indebted to Franka’s generosity for her home at the Sielenburg -and the considerable revenues accruing from this property; but she had -renounced all personal intercourse, which was the easier, because -Franka, on her part, took no pains to maintain it. For no money in the -world would the Countess Adele have consented to attend the young girl’s -lecture in Vienna. A connection—a person with the Sielen blood in her -veins—on the platform, speaking in favor of the emancipation of women! -Horrible! But when one day Baron Malhof brought the news that Franka -Garlett had been invited to take her place with the greatest celebrities -of the day at the Rose-Week celebration,—and he described the Toker -Rose-Week with enthusiasm, having himself been present at one,—the old -countess’s curiosity was awakened: “I should like to see it,” she -exclaimed. - -“Then let us go there,” proposed Malhof. And he argued so eloquently -that the countess decided to take the journey—the first she had ever -made out of her own country. There, so far away, she might, indeed, -endure to see Franka on the platform; only at home, among all her -relatives and acquaintances, it would have been too painful. But -there—“there” being somewhat confused in her mind with the antipodes—one -was, so to speak, _incognito_. Albertine consented to accompany her -cousin, although the expedition seemed to her very portentous and -adventurous; but, possibly, she might have the opportunity of telling -this Franka, who had so unceremoniously slipped out from under her -influence, a few verities which would redound to her advantage. - -Cousin Coriolan joined the party from the purpose of studying into the -“humbug.” ... Toker was a fool, and the whole affair was a piece of -modern sham. Baron Malhof, widely experienced, offered his services as -marshal for the journey: to engage lodgings, to see to the luggage, to -act as _cicerone_, and in general to superintend all the details of the -trip. But when he suggested making the journey to Lucerne in an airship, -Countess Adele protested with horror. - -They arrived the evening before the exercises were to begin; they had -enjoyed a good night’s sleep, and were now sitting at their -breakfast-coffee in the dining-room. They were glancing through the -newspaper, to find what announcements were made about the coming -performances: but all they found were the list of Toker’s guests, and -the statement that the same motto should serve for all the addresses: -“When thoughts will soar....” - -“I am curious to know what that means,” muttered Coriolan; “probably a -kind of preaching about all sorts of high-flying, so-called Ideals. It -may be very edifying, but not very exciting.” - -“As far as I can judge of you, my dear Coriolan,” said Malhof, “you -would be neither excited nor edified by the things which are to be heard -here. Just as the American and the operatic host which he has invited -are the representatives of the latest and boldest ideas, so you....” - -Countess Adele interrupted: “Well, if Franka’s emancipation absurdities -are to be called soaring.... This honey is famous—taste it, Baron -Malhof; and this crisp-toasted bread ... it seems to me the Swiss are -used to an abundant breakfast.” - -“_Kipfel_ are best with coffee,” remarked Albertine ecstatically. - -Coriolan nodded assent. “But _Gugelhupf_ has some claim upon us,” he -added. - -“We have wandered far from high-soaring thoughts again,” remarked Baron -Malhof. - -Countess Adele spread some more honey on her toast. “I’m curious to see -how Franka looks....” - -“Probably prettier than ever—she is a ravishing creature....” - -“What fire, Baron Malhof!” - -“Yes, I confess, Fräulein Garlett was my last flame.... Oh, not a very -creditable story, as far as I was concerned. I tried to—well, never mind -what I tried—but she gave me a pretty rebuff. As to emancipation, as you -keep saying, Countess, nothing of that could be seen in her. A virtuous -maiden of the old-fashioned model....” - -“Excuse me, but in order to resist you....” - -“One need not be so very virtuous—were you going to say, Madam? That is -true, but the circumstances under which I was repulsed, and the way in -which she did it, certainly indicated the much-praised ‘fundamental -principles.’” - -“Don’t you approve of them?” - -“I never have, most gracious Countess.” - -“I know, I know; you have the reputation of having been a genuine Don -Juan. However, as far as Franka is concerned, she seems to have kept her -head. In spite of this adventurous life—this gallivanting about and -making speeches, nothing discreditable has ever been charged against -her.” - -“So much the worse for her.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Well, if one hears nothing bad about a young woman, it means that -nothing pleasant has happened to her.” - -“You are a terrible man! Albertine, we ought never to have trusted -ourselves to his escort!” - -The old maid did not understand the joke. “Why not?” she asked -earnestly. “He is certainly a very respectable gentleman. But do you -know, Baron Malhof, I should like to give you one piece of advice: you -ought not to comb your back hair over your bald spot. Excuse my -frankness; but it is not at all becoming to you.” - -The baron nervously and awkwardly moved his hand over the place to which -such invidious attention had been called. “Good Heavens! One does the -best one can....” - -“Oh, you, with your everlasting frankness,” exclaimed the countess -reprovingly. - -Coriolan went on reading his newspaper. “Here among the names of the -Rose comedians stands that of a Herr Helmer; wasn’t that fool Jew, who -was Eduard’s last secretary, named Helmer?” - -“Yes, that was his name,” replied Countess Adele. “But he wasn’t a Jew.” - -“Well, his maternal grandmother was Jewish, and that is pretty much the -same thing.” - -“So was our common ancestor Adam,” said Malhof angrily. “Especially -here, in this free and democratic Switzerland, you should not assume -that tone. Here one must not brag too much of race and rank.” - -A wrathful scowl contracted the brows of the haughty aristocrat. “I -certainly shall speak my mind. Democracy does not impose on me. Besides, -here, in Switzerland there are a few very good old families, even if -they don’t have titles. For instance, there are the Hallwyls; only -recently I subscribed for their coat of arms for my collection; ... and -then, in our own country, thank God, the nobility still means -something—it is the mainstay of the throne, the support of the -faith—what do I care for Switzerland?” - -“I beg of you, Coriolan, do not lose your temper,” said the Countess -Adele soothingly, “and don’t talk so loud. What were we just speaking -about? Oh, yes, that Helmer ... I wonder if it is the same man?” - -Malhof signified with a nod that he was: “He has become a famous poet -and has been a frequent visitor at the Garlett palace.” - -“So-o-!” exclaimed the countess. “That is certainly not safe. The young -man was in love with Franka. That is the reason Eduard dismissed him. -And he has become so famous since?” - -“It certainly does not take much to make a person famous nowadays,” -remarked Coriolan. “No longer are there any more classical poets. And as -to fame—that is something that belongs only to great men, great -field-marshals and statesmen. Prince Eugene, Wallenstein, Metternich, -the Archduke Karl, Radetzky—those are names haloed with glory. No such -are to be found in this list.” - -“Don’t you count great poets also?” asked Malhof. - -“Well, the classics, as far as I am concerned—Goethe and Schiller.” - -“With the best will in the world, Mr. Toker could not invite them. But -who knows whether there may not be a future Schiller or Goethe among the -guests?” - -Coriolan shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. “n this wretched age of -ours there are no more great men—either poets or heroes. All these -suspicious elements, this Socialism and Freemasonry must be cleaned out -once and for all. Authority must be set up again and the people must -have religion. Perhaps it will be better after the next war—such a steel -bath is mighty wholesome....” - -“Can’t you leave off discussing politics, cousin?” sighed the countess. -“Fortunately, nothing is said now about war.” - -“Do you think so? This proves that you read nothing in the newspapers -except gossip and the society news, and not the political part; -otherwise you would know that war is coming, and very soon, too. Do you -imagine we shall much longer endure the gibes of the mischief-makers on -the other side of the Adriatic, and don’t you know how in the Balkans -they are only waiting their opportunity to found a Great Servia? Austria -will come out of a war with such an increase of power that it will be -able to settle its internal affairs on a satisfactory basis. And in the -rest of Europe? The tension is everywhere so great—who knows but before -this so-called Rose-Week shall end, the canister will begin to rattle -somewhere?” - -“There, now! that will do,” cried the old countess. “You are a horrible -bird of evil omen! It isn’t true, is it, Malhof, that things are so -bad?” - -“I am no prophet. I grant that we are standing on volcanic ground, but I -believe that it will be a revolution sooner than a war. It must come to -a financial crash if things go on as they are—to strikes, general -strikes—how do I know?—or to an open revolt.... But let us talk of other -things. Let us hope that everything will come out all right. _Après nous -le déluge!_ In the mean time, ladies, I propose that in half an hour we -set forth to have a little glimpse of Lucerne. I will immediately order -a carriage. First of all, I will take you past the buildings of the -Rose-Palace. You must see how fairylike it all is. Even two years ago, -when I was here, it was dazzling in its magnificence. Since then I -understand Mr. Toker has introduced still further embellishments and -surprises. I have already procured the entrance cards for the opening -exercises this evening. This forenoon we will spend in exploring -Lucerne. But Coriolan, you must take an oath that you will not say -another word about politics as long as we are on our pleasure trip.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - THE OPENING NIGHT - - -The exercises began at half-past seven in the evening; so at that time -of the year it was still broad daylight. The public was admitted to the -grounds flanked with pillared halls, spreading out from the lake to the -palace and covering a wide stretch behind it. Here there was -unrestrained freedom of movement. Thus the festival began like a large -garden-party. - -Mr. Toker, his daughter, and his celebrated guests, recognizable by the -rosebud fastened to the breast, circulated among the others. An -automatic orchestrion, consisting of instruments like the organ and the -harmonium, played by electricity, and concealed behind trees, filled the -place with delicate harmonies, ringing like the music of the spheres. -The fountains played, and in their lofty columns of water glittered -fiery red the rays of the sinking sun. In the air flying-machines like -birds or dragon-flies performed artistic evolutions. Suddenly arose a -balloon with an aëronaut costumed like the god Mars: from the basket two -big guns were pointed threateningly toward the earth. This uncanny -instrument of war rose to a great height, followed by the eyes and the -shouts of the spectators. Some shouts of disapprobation mingled with the -others, for there were many in the throng who felt disturbed by being -reminded of the terrors of battles in the midst of a peaceful festival. -It is true, men have been accustomed to the military maneuvers -attracting eager crowds to watch them, and at the world expositions the -military pavilion has always proved to be a great drawing-card. But -here, at this festival of human exaltation,—celebrated under the symbol -of the queen of flowers,—they were really not prepared for the sight of -cannon. But the slight dissatisfaction soon resolved into pleasure, when -from the mouth of the threatening guns, instead of shells, fresh -rose-leaves were discharged over the throng, and on their descent to the -earth fluttered about in the air like butterflies. There was universal -applause. Even a great cannon-founder who was among the spectators, and -who had recently signed very advantageous contracts with several -governments for the delivery of balloon guns and of vertical cannon, -clapped his hands with the rest. One must be ready to understand a -joke; ... the successful cannon-king scarcely suspected with what deep -seriousness Mr. Toker prepared all the graceful details of his work. - -The little coterie of Austrian travelers were among those present. But -as both of the old ladies were too weary to wander about, they took -seats in one of the marquees which had been pitched in the grounds. -Coriolan stayed with them, but Malhof went out to mingle with the -promenaders. He had hardly taken two steps ere he fell in with Franka, -who happened to be going in the direction of the marquee where her -relatives were sitting. Malhof stopped in front of her:— - -“Your very humble servant, Fräulein Garlett. Do you remember me?” - -Franka offered him her hand. “Certainly, Baron Malhof. It is a pleasure -to meet with a fellow-countryman.” - -“Pray do not hasten on. You have no idea who is sitting in the next -marquee ... you must not meet them without being forewarned....” - -“Who is it?” - -“That I must prepare your mind for by slow degrees. Let us walk for a -few moments in the opposite direction and talk about old times. May I -offer you my arm?” - -Franka accepted. “You are really comical, Baron Malhof. Old times! We -can scarcely be said to share youthful recollections.... We have met -just twice, and the first time certainly under rather painful -circumstances. The second time at Sielenburg was more agreeable.” - -“Well, now it must be agreeable, too. What a change has taken place in -your fate, Fräulein Franka! First, a poor deserted orphan; next, one of -the wealthiest heiresses in the country; and now, in addition, a -European reputation! And as beautiful as ever ... yet your features have -changed ... there is something melancholy in your face. Are you happy?” - -“Forever that question! Must one be happy?” - -“Yes, one must if circumstances permit it, as in your case they -do—rather, demand it. Or are you cast down by an unhappy love-affair?” - -Franka laughed. “No, I am not in love with any one.” - -“Well, that is certainly a misfortune. Your laugh did not ring merrily. -I can easily imagine that a hundred opportunities were open to you, and -perhaps for that very reason you do not want to marry, and you are not -so far from wrong.... Freedom is a fine thing. But have you no lover?” - -“Truly, Baron Malhof, you are....” - -“Oh, do not scold me! On the reef of your virtue all the accumulated -wisdom of my life goes to shipwreck. But this time I am preaching -unselfishly, and the text of my sermon is: Do not let your youth pass in -vain; don’t cheat your heart and your temperament of their rights. You -did not come into the world, blest with beauty, wealth, and -independence, to waste all these treasures, and bluestocking yourself -merely for women’s rights’ _tournées_ like any ugly old maid. You must -live, Fräulein Garlett—live!” - -Franka stopped walking and withdrew her arm: “You are incorrigible. This -is in the style of that letter of yours ... but I am not making a show -of insulted virtue, it is insulted independence. What I do, and what I -leave undone, is not your affair. You cannot look into my soul; you -cannot know what I understand by living.” - -Baron Malhof put on a contrite expression: “I have been at fault again, -I see. I was trying to give good advice and I get a lesson. Forgive me!” - -Franka took his arm again: “Now, tell me, please, what mischief lurks in -the tent, from the neighborhood of which you have led me.” - -“How good of you to be genial again! In the tent sit your two aunts and -Cousin Coriolan.” - -Certainly no joyful surprise showed itself in Franka’s face. “Aunt Adele -and Aunt Albertine? How did they happen to come here?” - -“To tell the honest truth, I persuaded them to take the journey. You -will forgive me for that, too?” - -“I will go this minute and greet my aunts.” - -Franka made the best of a bad business. It was really disagreeable to -her to meet again those three, especially here in this place, where a -spirit prevailed which could not fail to be incomprehensible to -them; ... however, when all was said, they were her people. Her people? -What a false expression. How little she belonged to them. “To whom do I -belong, I’d like to know?” Franka asked herself and a chill crept around -her heart.... - -“Really, then, you are willing to be precipitated head over heels into -the inevitable? That is true courage!” - -A few minutes later the two entered the marquee. The meeting was rather -stiff and constrained. Their paths had gone so far asunder! And, -moreover, they had never been so very congenial. There was an exchange -of greetings, but no heartiness could be felt or feigned; then they -talked indifferently of the journey, of the festival week, and the like. -Countess Adele invited Franka to sit down with them. - -“Tell us how things are going with you and what you are doing. Do you -speak this evening?” - -“No,” replied Franka, as she took a seat beside her aunts. “I do not -give my address until to-morrow.” - -“And do you not feel alarmed? It is incomprehensible to me what you are -doing.... Tell me, is the Helmer who is here, the one....” - -Franka anticipated the question: “Yes, grandpapa’s former secretary. He -has grown to be a world-famous poet.” - -“I should never have believed it of him,” remarked Albertine. - -“And I should never have believed that you, my respected aunts, would -ever dream of such a thing as making a journey to the Rose-Festival. I -really believe you were never out of Austria. Did you come in an -airship?” - -“That would be the last thing!” cried Countess Adele with horror. “I -would never go in such a machine as long as I lived.... What has become -of your companion?” - -“Frau von Rockhaus? Oh, she is still with me.” - -“That is good. One must always have a regard to appearances.” - -Malhof sighed. “Oh, appearances! Besides, they are all out of style.” - -After a while Franka got up. “Well, I must be going.... We shall meet -again in the hall. The speeches will soon begin.” - -“Really,” said Coriolan, “I am quite curious to see this wild show.” - -A little later a fanfare gave the signal that the festival was to be -formally opened in the theater-hall. Thither flocked all the visitors -scattered throughout the grounds. - -It was an immense hall with boxes and galleries. Yet the parquet was -not, as in regular theaters, filled with rows of seats placed regularly, -but was like a great salon, in which a multitude of sofas and armchairs -were distributed about at haphazard, separated by screens and flowering -plants, with rooms enough for people to pass from one group to another. -Behind the boxes were wide lobbies, available for that part of the -public that did not care to listen to any particular address, either -because its subject was not interesting or because it was delivered in a -language not understood. There was no curtain hung in front of the -stage, which was really not a stage, but rather a podium or platform. -This podium formed a second smaller salon with steps leading down into -the parquet. There, on the upper level, were grouped Mr. Toker and all -his illustrious guests, sitting and standing. In front was a small -reading-desk with a chair. - -Throughout the hall there was much to make it evident that here also was -the realm of roses. The upholstery of the furniture and the fronts of -the boxes were of pink velvet, and by an electric apparatus a pale rose -glow was everywhere disseminated. A hidden ventilator provided the place -with cool, rose-perfumed air. No chandelier was suspended from above, -but the ceiling simulated the sky populated with electric lights, -distributed like stars and nebulæ,—an accurate copy of a segment of the -universe. Between the first row of boxes and the gallery was placed a -wreath of medallion-portraits of great departed poets, savants, -inventors, and discoverers from Vergil to Shakespeare and to Goethe; -from Aristotle to Leonardo da Vinci, and then to Darwin; from Columbus -to Gutenberg and to Montgolfier. Under the pictures the names sparkled -with electric letters. In the center a little structure which, from the -hall looked like a prompter’s box, concealed a phonograph apparatus to -make a permanent record of the speaker’s words. - -A signal rang out; Toker stepped to the front of the platform, and soon -expectant silence prevailed in the hall. In a loud voice, but in simple, -conversational manner and in English Toker began to speak:— - -“Ladies and gentlemen! A hearty welcome to you all. I see in the hall -many of the habitués of the Lucerne Rose-Weeks, yet also many new faces. -To the new visitors I should like to tell in a few words the purpose of -our establishment: It is a centralization of forces, a great -dynamo-machine. For what is offered to you here in this limited place is -meant for the millions outside, and is to be carried to the greatest -distances, to be distributed among the working-people, and to be brought -before the mightiest rulers. A number of the noblest spirits among our -contemporaries are working together here. Each one brings a significant -portion of the results of his thinking, his poetry, his investigations, -of his creations; and all with the same aim, with the same end in -view:—the progress of society toward greater righteousness and greater -freedom, toward greater beauty and greater happiness. It is already -recognized that what lifts men from barbarism to humanity is the work of -growing intelligence, which awakens the will toward goodness. This will -animates us here. And therefore I beg you to listen to the coming -addresses not only with friendly attention, but also with some -reverence. Wherever men assemble for the purpose of elevating their -thoughts into high regions, and of allowing their hearts to beat in good -will for their fellow-creatures, there is a kind of temple. I now will -allow Music to speak.” - -Toker bowed and stepped back. Now followed the performance of the -Rose-Quintette, directed by the composer, the gifted young Pole, -himself. After it was finished, not only the Russian countess, but the -whole assemblage broke out into a delirium of enthusiasm. “There,” -exclaimed Countess Vera to Rinotti, who sat near her, “isn’t that as -much a triumph as a victorious battle?” - -“It is a battle, and the victor is named Melody,” replied the marchese. - -Next, the great French author went to the desk and read a chapter from -his last (as yet unprinted) book. It was entitled “La Vérité, toute la -Vérité, rien que la Vérité.” Full of bold thought, of keen wit, of -sparkling turns of speech, it was a bundle of new truths delivered to -the auditors, and at the same time it was an unmasking of the lies that -subjugate human society. This reading was followed by an intermission -devoted to social intercourse, while the two circles, the audience and -the performers, mingled together. - -Prince Victor Adolph mounted the steps leading to the platform and -approached Franka: “Shall we not hear you to-day, Miss Garlett?” - -“No, Your Highness; my turn comes to-morrow—but I am already beginning -to feel anxious.” - -“You feel anxious! Yet you are accustomed to speak before crowded -houses.” - -“But not before hundreds of thousands of people. This fearful -machine”—she indicated the phonograph in the prompter’s box—“will carry -our words before that number.” - -“Whether a thousand or a hundred thousand—isn’t it all the same?” - -“Oh, no, the thousand, who come of their own free will to listen to an -address, belong to a certain stratum of society, and are all animated by -similar feelings. My public, for example, was mostly composed of young -girls from middle-class circles, and had the desire to attain -intellectual freedom and to put it into practice; but the public which I -shall face to-morrow....” - -“Yes, I know. Mr. Toker has told us—it embraces all ranks in all lands. -Even in this hall, there is not much unanimity of sentiment. Look, for -example, at the difference between my views and the views of my -companion, Count Orell....” - -“I must thank you for the splendid violets, Prince.” - -“Oh, only a modest greeting.” - -The prince remained a long time near Franka, engaging her in lively -conversation. That attracted the attention of the two aunts and their -friends. - -“Well, it looks as if Franka had a very zealous suitor: who may it be?” - -Malhof happened to be able to inform them. - -“Indeed?” exclaimed Tante Adele thoughtfully. “A prince from the ruling -house! That is dangerous. He certainly couldn’t marry her.” - -Malhof shrugged his shoulders. “As if marriage must always be in the -wind! I am curious to know whether the sermons preached up there for the -welfare of humanity will not be directed also against the oppressive -chains of marriage.” - -“Nothing is sacred to you!” sighed the countess. “Besides, as you never -were married, you cannot judge of marriage.” - -“For the very reason that I have judged, I remained single.” - -Coriolan sat with a terribly bored expression. He understood so little -French that all the points of the reading he had heard had wholly -escaped him; finally he had given up all attempt to listen. In his heart -he was already repenting that he had ever taken this journey. The whole -thing displeased him.... At the Apollo Theater it is more amusing ... -there one understands everything ... and then this Rose-Masquerade.... - -“You look very savage, Coriolan!” remarked the Countess Adele; “you do -not say a word.” - -“I say, stay at home and entertain yourself sensibly.” - -The young composer was now sitting next the Russian widow. - -“The piece was heavenly ... perfectly splendid ... it must be a delight -to be able to compose such things.” Her eyes rested warmly on the young -musician. - -“Every artistic creation carries with it a good bit of agony, most -gracious Countess.” - -“What gives others so much delight ought not to cause its creator any -pain.” - -“And yet, do you not always hear the sighs that tremble through so many -pieces of music? These the artist must have drawn out of his own soul. -But not only that—he must have not only experienced anguish in order to -reproduce it in tones—creation itself is accompanied by pain; yearning, -trouble, despondency ... the crushing sense of the inexpressible....” - -“You must explain all this to me more definitely. Please come to-morrow -and have a cup of tea—at five o’clock ... Grand Hotel ... say yes ... -will you promise?” - -Helmer, informed by Franka of the presence of the Sielenburg party, -entered the hall and sought out the little Austrian group. Bowing, he -went up to them: “May I be permitted ... in memory of old times.... I do -not know whether you will remember me.” - -The countess nodded: “To be sure, Herr Helmer ... you have made a great -career ... famous poet ... that is no small thing! Who would ever have -predicted it? You will give us your book to read, won’t you? And tell -me, is this Mr. Toker not a very extravagant man?” - -“He is certainly by no means an ordinary man.” - -“Do you imply by that,” asked Coriolan sharply, “that we are ordinary -people?” - -“I meant nothing more than I said. Mr. Toker is an exceptional -phenomenon. A man, who by work and business has made an enormous -fortune, and who now is placing this fortune at the service of the most -ideal aims.” - -Coriolan shrugged his shoulders. “He simply wants to get himself talked -about.” - -“What ideal aims do you mean?” asked the countess. - -“Heavens! it is hard to explain them all in a few words. The main thing -is the spread of thoughts that soar—_Hochgedanken_....” - -“What is that?” - -“If you will do me the honor of listening to my address, then you will -understand Mr. Toker’s intentions, for I am going to speak in the spirit -which lies at the foundation of the motto of this year’s Rose-Festival.” - -“Are you going to speak to-day?” - -“No; not until the third or fourth day.” - -“It is good that you do not speak this evening,” remarked Fräulein -Albertine, joining in the conversation. “I must tell you frankly that -your voice seems to me somewhat hoarse ... perhaps you have a cold; it -seems to me, too, that your nose is swollen ... you ought to rub on a -little candle tallow.” - -Helmer smiled. “I am afraid I should not be able to find a tallow candle -in the whole Rose-Palace. But now I will bid you good-evening ... a new -lecture is beginning.” - -The young Russian author now stepped forward to the reader’s desk with a -manuscript in his hand. At the same time ushers went through the hall, -distributing printed pamphlets containing German, French, and English -translations of what the author was to deliver in his native tongue. -That portion of the public which did not understand Russian—and that was -by far the larger—could now also follow the speaker and enjoy his -euphonious utterance, now trembling with melancholy, now glowing with -inspiration. What he offered, were brief sketches in prose: scenes from -the time of war and of revolution, personal experiences or episodes, -made vivid by poetic intuition; stories of the wolf’s pits, stories of -barbed-wire fences, stories of shells filled with poison, by the fumes -of which people were asphyxiated slowly and agonizingly; stories of -women beaten by Cossack-_nagaïkas_; of tortures practiced in dungeons; -of _pogroms_, of executions, of massacring and of incendiary bands; of -the woe in the hearts of young Russians of all classes, from the -humblest of the people to the highest in court circles, who had suffered -awfully under this terrorism, because their hearts and souls are open to -the most progressive ideas of freedom and mildness; of the sorrows of -the poets and the scientists, of the enlightened politicians and the -simple man of the people, whose natural benevolence is opposed to all -these cruelties, perpetrated by the demon Violence, because the minds of -the masses are subject to the illusion that violence is the only means -of resisting evil. - -The poet added an epilogue to his little histories:— - -“What I have related is sad, profoundly sad. Should I have refrained -from doing this in this _cénacle_? Our host has provided this festival -week under the protection and shelter of Beauty—Beauty is the sister of -Joy, not of Woe ... and I have brought before you so much woe.... I have -unveiled so much that is unspeakably hateful! But it has not been a -mistake; indeed, I know the goal that beckons to the founder of this -Rose-Congress. Lofty thoughts are to fly forth into the world; lofty -feelings must be aroused. And this object subserves a still most distant -object: namely, that it should be a bit better, a bit brighter in this -world of ours. To this end one must see clearly, must look straight at -the reality. One must know all that is going on, everywhere. All the -cries of complaint and all the shrieks of anguish must be heard as they -are torn from tormented human beings by human unreason. Then flames up -that lofty feeling—one of the noblest of all:—_Pity!_ And thereby is the -will strengthened—lofty will it may be called—to substitute for the -infamous system of reciprocal persecution the sublime rule of reciprocal -helpfulness.” - -A gloomy mood had taken possession of the audience, yet with it was -mingled also something of that reverential emotion by which Toker wanted -to see his public stirred. Then followed a short interlude of music, and -that in its turn was followed by a small ballet of quite unique kind. -Arc-lamps were the instruments and variegated flames were the dancers. -It seemed like a _divertissement_ from fairyland, and yet it was only an -experiment from the realm of chemistry. - -This brought to a conclusion the exercises of the first evening, and -social intercourse again assumed control. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - FRANKA’S LECTURE - - -When Franka woke the following morning, she was possessed by the -consciousness that all sorts of unpleasantnesses were weighing upon -her.... What could it mean? Oh, yes, that evening, she had to give her -address. Never, except the first time, had she felt such a panic at the -prospect of a public appearance as she felt now. Always, before, she had -realized that she was making her addresses as the exponent of a cause, -as a guide for those of her own sex who were searching their way—a way -of escape; her own person was, so to speak, eliminated. But this time it -seemed to her as if she, Franka Garlett, were going to make her début -before the assembled world, which would pass judgment as to whether she -were capable of coöperating with all the celebrities of Europe and -America in Toker’s great work of civilization. There would be in the -hall no band of enthusiastic young girls, but the majority of the -audience would be men who would either take no interest in the tasks of -the new woman, or would even be opposed to them. - -The second unpleasant thing that weighed on her spirit was the presence -of her aunts and their two escorts, Coriolan and Malhof. To speak before -them was really painful, and it would seem to her as if these four were -her real audience. And then there was Prince Victor Adolph, who would -hear her.... Why had she any timidity before him? Why that wish to -please him, that terror of displeasing him?... Is a person worthy of -addressing the whole world as the interpreter of “lofty thoughts,” when -the question arises, What wall that young man think? - -Accustomed to speak extempore, she had made no written digest of her -address; but now she felt that in these quite altered circumstances her -inspiration might desert her, and she resolved to write a draft. She -looked at the clock: it was still early, only seven. No matter, she must -have time to write. She rang for her maid, made a hurried morning -toilette, and had her writing-apparatus, together with her breakfast, -brought out on the balcony. - -It was a wonderfully fresh morning, full of bird songs and spicy -fragrance. Franka’s room looked out on a small group of firs, and she -regarded it as a real blessing that here nothing was to be seen of the -everlasting roses, and no breath of the everlasting perfume of roses. -Just that day the whole rose-scheme for the time being seemed -distasteful to her, for it was responsible for her making her appearance -as a member of the Rose Order and perhaps lamentably failing.... - -She drew in long breaths of the forest-air and a half-yearning, -half-regretful thought stole over her: “Why am I not in my quiet -Moravian hunting-castle, which lies so deep hidden in the fir forest?” -How beautiful it would be there, how restful, how lonely ... loneliness? -No, that was not, after all, what she was pining for ... some one must -be with her ... who? Victor Adolph? No, he was a stranger. It must be -some trusty friend, some one on whose heart—a heart containing no depths -hidden from her—she might lean; at the same time, some one to whom she -would be the dearest object on earth.... The image of her father rose in -her soul.... “Oh, yes, thou, thou! But thou art dead.” - -She drew a deep sigh and went into her room to fetch out the precious -notebook. She would hold a little colloquy with her father. She came -back to the balcony with the book in her hand, sat down at the table -where her tablet and pencil were ready for her, and instead of writing, -she began to turn the pages of the notebook and to read. The first -sentence that attracted her attention was:— - -“The absent grow daily more and more distant!” (Japanese proverb.) - -Franka looked up to the sky. “Ah, yes, my poor departed father! Death is -an eternal absence—how sadly true that is. I love thee still—I see thee, -but how far, how far away!” - -She read on:— - - Saüme nicht dich zu erdreisten, - Wenn die Menge zaudernd schweift; - Alles kann der Edle leisten, - Der versteht und rasch ergreift. - - Do not hesitate to be full of daring, - When the crowd irresolute drifts; - All things can the noble accomplish - Who perceives and quickly acts. - - (Goethe, _Faust_, 2d part, Act 1. “Chor der Geister.”) - -Franka remembered how at this stanza her father had remarked: “Do you -see in how few words the poet sums up the characteristics that make a -man a leader and accomplisher? He must be bold and confident and noble; -he must have intellect and resolution.” - - Von Halbheit halte den Pfad rein, - Der ganze Mann setzt ganze Tat ein - Und wahre Ehre muss ohne Naht sein. - - Of mediocrity keep thy road clear; - Let the whole man bear the whole load clear - And pure honor must be of all seam sewed clear. - - (Ernst Ziel.) - -“The whole man bear the whole load clear,” repeated Franka. “The whole -woman, too,—this equalization in dignity Brother Chlodwig taught me.” - - All men’s advantage every man’s rule. - Banish him far away—our age’s demon far hence, - The sleepy, lame monster, whose name is Indifference. - - - I believe it is the secret of eminent men that they preserve into - advancing life their childish feelings,—that is to say, warm, deep - feelings. This terrible world cools down all ardor into nauseous - lukewarmness. But eminent men have so much internal warmth that an - ocean of stupidity and unintelligence could never cool what is burning - in their hearts. They have an absolute lack of affinity for everything - common and ordinary; they enter into no combination with it. - - -“There didst thou describe thy dear self, my own father.... I never saw -in my life such a childlike person as thou wert ... except Helmer, when -he laughs ... he also can laugh like a child....” - - Wenn auch nur Einer lebt, - Der nicht sich beugt - Und für die Wahrheit zeugt— - Wie das erhebt! - - Wenn auch nur Einer still - Die Hand uns drückt - Und mit uns denkt und will, - Wie das beglückt! - - If only one man lives - Who will not fail - And makes the truth prevail— - What joy that gives! - - If only one man press - Silent our hands, - What happiness - To know he understands! - - (Hermann Lingg.) - -For a long while Franka remained buried in the perusal of the old -notebook. At last, she put herself to making an outline of her coming -address. She wrote down a few notes, but could not seem to warm up to -the work, and she accepted as a welcome diversion the arrival of the -morning mail. As usual, she received a great number of letters and -documents. Dr. Fixstern regularly sent her reports regarding the -condition of the property entrusted to him. The directors of the Garlett -Academy kept her informed of the progress of this flourishing -institution. Enthusiastic letters from young girls came every day, and -there were numerous requests for autographs. On this morning there was -in addition the offer of an impresario who wanted her to undertake a -lecture _tournée_ through the United States; not to speak of a -declaration of love from a silent admirer present at the Rose-Week’s -exercises and moved to send her a few lyric effusions. This time her -whole mail made a particularly arid impression on Franka. It seemed to -her so lifeless and soulless. But now her duty was to proceed with -writing down the lecture—it was already eleven o’clock. She pushed the -half-written page into position before her.... No, she could not master -her thoughts.... She needed advice, needed warm, living words. She got -up and pressed the electric button. “Please,” she said to the servant -who answered her summons, “see if Mr. Helmer is in, and if he is, I -should like to have him come to see me.” - -After a moment the servant came back: “Mr. Helmer has just this moment -come.” - -“Very good, ask him into the salon.” - -She stepped into the adjoining room. Helmer was standing before the -center table, contemplating the great basket of violets on which was -still attached Prince Victor Adolph’s visiting-card. - -Franka offered him her hand: “It was good of you to come....” - -“Since you have summoned me....” - -“Oh. Do not be so ceremonious.... I wanted to see Brother Chlodwig.... I -need your encouragement, your advice....” - -He seemed ill at ease. “My advice? Perhaps in regard to this business,” -and he indicated the violets. - -“What business? Oh, indeed, you think ... no, no, listen.... I will tell -you what I want.” - -Just at that moment Frau Eleonore entered by the other door. “Do I -disturb you”? - -“Frankly, yes. I wanted to talk over my lecture with Mr. Helmer.” - -“Very well; then I will write some letters”; and she vanished again into -her own room. - -“So now you know what it is about.... I am simply in despair about my -lecture. You must help me, just as at the first time. You showed me the -way and made it smooth, and here this day I am standing again on a -crossway, or rather before a wall.... Help me over, reach me your hand!” - -The demand was only meant symbolically, but Helmer took her hand in his, -and she got a degree of calm, of consolation from the firm grasp. - -“What is the matter, Franka?” he asked tenderly. “What has come over you -suddenly? Timidity?... You, the victorious, you, ‘the Garlett’?” - -“Dear me, it is hard to explain. Timidity? Yes, and such a sense of -emptiness, such a lack of impulse. When, before, I have spoken to my -audiences of women, I have had something to say to them.... I wanted to -persuade them, I wanted to transfer to their souls what filled my own -soul to the brim. My addresses were a means, not an end.... But here: I -cannot feel the impulse to persuade all these people,—beginning with Mr. -Toker and his guests,—and all these princes and diplomats and my aunts -and Coriolan (why didn’t they stay at home?)—to persuade them, I say, -that the young girls of our day must assume new duties.... And I shall -stand there on the platform, in order to perform—hateful term!—in order -to show the inquisitive company whether I have sufficient ability to be -accepted as one of the Rose-Knights, whether I really deserved to be -invited by Mr. Toker. These people are not at all here to get -edification, but they come as critics; and I am here, not as one urging, -but as an artist, and I am not that. For if the inner impulse fails, -then I can’t speak ... and that is the reason why I am unhappy....” - -Chlodwig pressed her hand still more firmly. “I understand you, Franka. -But oh, your lips are actually trembling, like a child’s when it wants -to cry. Do not be faint-hearted; there will be a way out of this -difficulty. If it is really only what you have just told me, then it is -easy enough to help you. Or, perhaps, is it a fit of strained nerves? -Possibly the work that you have chosen does not satisfy you any -longer;—perhaps the emptiness which you complain of is the emptiness of -your heart, a conscious or an unconscious yearning;—or is it that you -are tired of these roses here, and,” with a glance at the basket, “are -longing for more violets?” - -Franka shook her head vigorously. “Leave the violets out of the -question. I have told you the honest truth, why I dread this evening so -much.” - -“Well, then, we shall meet that difficulty. Let me think.” - -He leaned his elbow on the table and supported his head with his hand. -Franka looked up to him—expectantly and trustfully. The thoughtful -expression of his face touched and moved her: he was employing his -faculties for her. He wanted to help her. Ah, after the verb “to love,” -“to help” is the most beautiful verb in the world! - -After a while he began to speak, looking her full in the eye: “The -public, whose criticism and lack of sympathy thou fearest—forgive me for -using the familiar ‘du’ ... I drifted back to the time when I wrote you -those letters as your brother in the spirit—this public must vanish, -must really vanish out of your consciousness. You must put it out of -existence yourself with your own introductory words. There must be the -feeling that it really is not there, this public—that therefore it has -no right to criticize you. You are not speaking to it—it can only -listen, while you are speaking to a hundred thousand others. Aye, to -millions, perhaps; ... it is your best opportunity—that must inspire you -and fire you. Up till now you have been following a fine, brilliant -career; to-day you will set the crown to it. Begin your address with the -words: ‘You young girls, now listen to me’; and then continue in some -such way as this: ‘Forgive me, ladies and gentlemen! I know very well -that in this distinguished assembly assuredly there will be only a small -percentage of young girls, and therefore my words will arouse only a -feeble echo in this room. But here I stand because I have undertaken to -deliver a message—a message to young people of my own sex showing them -the way which—as I believe—will lead the girls themselves and at the -same time all human society to higher aims. And to-day in this hall, the -windows of which look out into the wide world, the opportunity is -vouchsafed me to be heard by invisible throngs of those to whom my -life-work is dedicated, and therefore it is a sacred duty to direct my -utterances only to these and to call out more loudly and joyfully than -ever before: “Ye young maidens, listen to me!”’ After this exordium, -Franka, the whole audience of those that disturb you will vanish out of -your consciousness, and you can repeat to the invisible listeners all -the things with which at your first appearance you took all maiden -hearts by storm.” - -Franka sprang up and reached Helmer both her hands. “Thanks, Brother -Chlodwig, that is, indeed, a saving way out. You are and always will be -my dear master!” - -Some one knocked at the door. Franka let go Helmer’s hands and cried: -“Come in.” - -Once more it was an offering of flowers and once more the prince’s -visiting-card was attached to the bouquet. A shade of vexation passed -over Helmer’s face. He felt a twofold annoyance: in the first place, at -this importunate homage, and in the second place, because he was -annoyed ... was it jealousy? - -“I will leave you now. You must collect your thoughts, and you need -rest, Franka.” - -“Good-bye, then, for now. I thank you again.” - -“Shall you wear these violets this evening?” - -“I always wear violets.” - -“If you marry this prince, Franka, then it is all up with your career.” - -“What are you thinking about? The prince in his position cannot marry -any one of humble rank; he is not imagining such a thing.” - -“What is he imagining, then?” - -“I don’t know you, Helmer. Hitherto you have never interfered with my -private affairs.” - -“Forgive my presumption. I shan’t do so any more.” He turned to go. - -“Are you angry, Brother Chlodwig?” - -“Yes—with myself.” And he hastened out. - -Franka gazed after him and smiled. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - YE YOUNG MAIDENS, LISTEN TO ME - - -The exercises on this second evening of the Rose-Week began as before -with music. But it was a kind of music such as had never before, or -anywhere else, been heard. A feeling of wonder, and unprecedented -delight took possession of the audience—a delight which almost reached -awe. It was a newly invented instrument, the tone of which had no -resemblance to that of any other instrument. It was more nearly -comparable to bell-tones, like cathedral chimes, loud and grave and -vibrating. - -In the midst of a crescendo the player of it suddenly ceased playing and -said to the public:— - -“What you are here listening to is the voice of a magician—the magician -‘Electricity.’ The instrument, as you see, is not large, and its -mechanism is concealed; I invented it and constructed it. In honor of -the Mæcenas who enabled me to accomplish my invention, I have christened -it the ‘Toker Organ.’ It is played by any artist who understands the -organ, but its tone and its _timbre_ are the product of a nature-force -tamed. The surprising thing is that the tone has such a sweetness that -it can awake the keenest musical delight, and that its attainable power -has no limits. The crescendo which I just now broke off can be made ever -so many times more tremendous on this ‘Toker Organ.’ A shut-off has to -be introduced here, for otherwise the strength of the tone-waves would -increase so that it might not only burst your ear-drums but even the -ceiling of the hall. Yet, in open space, on a mountain-top or from a -lighthouse in the open sea, one might with impunity fill a circumference -of miles with music. And because you are now assured that the sweet -tone, however powerful it may be, remains sweet and tender, and will -never become a deafening noise, I will once more swell to a hitherto -unknown majesty of power, but certainly not to be unendurable, as the -shut-off is introduced a long way before that point;—I will continue my -playing. I choose an old song known to you all, the text of which seems -appropriate to this festival week; ‘The Last Rose of Summer.’” - -These words, spoken in English,—the young inventor was an American -engineer of the Edison school,—were repeated in French and German by -interpreters. Then the young man again seated himself at the instrument, -allowing the resounding bells to give out the melancholy melody, ever -fuller and fuller, so that it seemed to the listeners as if the whole -hall were filled with the vibrating waves of sound. When the crescendo -grew four or five times as loud as it was when the player had broken off -the first time, voices were heard here and there in the hall as if -crying in anguish: “Enough, enough!” The artist nodded and instituted -immediately a diminuendo, and gradually the melody, just as it had -mounted, so now it decreased to the most thread-like pianissimo, dying -away as if in the remotest distance. - -Stormy applause now broke loose. Something never before known had been -experienced, life was enriched by a new sensation. Then followed the -social intermission. Many mounted the platform to examine the -instrument. A buzz of conversation filled the hall. Impressions -regarding the marvelous music were exchanged. A composer told his -delight that music had achieved now a new means of expression of such -inimitable beauty. An officer of the general staff remarked that, in the -infinite possibilities of overwhelming noise, there might be something -of strategic importance. A passionate lover of nature cried, “Well, I -must say: now that the sublime emptiness of heavenly space is to be -darkened with every kind of whirring aviating rabble, the splendid -silence of the mountains and the seas will be desecrated by electrically -bellowed street-songs.” On the other hand, a philosopher remarked -thoughtfully: “Boundless powers put into the hand of man—what prospects -open up!” - -Coriolan expressed his views to his cousins: “Didn’t I tell you so? -Tingel-tangel, klingel-klangel.... Variété.... And the next number is -the appearance of Franka Garlett, who is still, unfortunately, our -kinswoman. Where is she hiding? She is not to be seen anywhere.” - -Franka was in fact not present in the hall. All day long she had denied -herself to every one, so that she might devote her time uninterruptedly -to the preparation of her address. She had not even gone to the hall at -the beginning of the exercises, but had asked to be called only when it -was her turn to speak. - -The moment had now arrived. She stepped out on the platform. - -A murmur of admiration swept through the hall. She looked classically -beautiful in her trailing pure white gown with its long, winglike -sleeves, with no other adornment than a pearl necklace and the usual -small bouquet of violets at the heart-shaped opening of her bodice. Her -face was pallid in contrast to the black diadem of her tresses, coiled -high on her head. As she stepped forward, loud applause broke out. She -acknowledged it, without smiling, with a graceful inclination and -began:— - -“Ye young maidens, listen to me!” Just as Helmer had suggested, she -delivered her proem and then repeated the argument of her first speech -in which she took as her text the injunction: “We are here to share in -man’s thought,” added to Goethe’s “We are here to share in men’s love.” - -“Since she had thus spoken,” she added, “the domain had widened out ever -more and more,—the domain which woman had conquered for herself inch by -inch,—and the time was rapidly approaching when young womanhood was also -to share in man’s work, even in his political work. Now the important -question was not as formerly to win positions for themselves, but it was -important for them to make themselves capable and worthy of filling the -places waiting for them. In many countries—Australia, Finland, Norway, -and other lands—the doors of Parliament have been thrown open to women -as electors and elected; probably little by little the other countries -would follow. Probably, also, women—if once they entered deliberative -bodies—would be entrusted with official positions, and the ministries -would not remain closed to them. In short, equal rights and equal -positions would be theirs along the whole line: simply a terrible state -of things, unless we have sufficient imagination to conceive of -simultaneously altered forms of society and a more highly developed -community. The great distrust and displeasure, ordinarily felt against -any proposed change in conditions, are derived from the fact that the -environing conditions are supposed to be unchanged, and a harsh -dissonance is experienced, just such an one as a discordant tone must -give in a well-tuned instrument. - -“Only one example: a woman as an executioner—what a horrid picture. -Restrain your emotion—if ever woman finds her place among the lawgivers -of the land, capital punishment will surely be abolished. - -“Do you fully realize what is the gist of this question? Whether our sex -shall share in the direction of institutions and events is not merely a -question of the improvement of women’s lot, but it is also that of the -improvement of man’s lot. All the virtues which are entrusted to our -charge, and which are supposed to be superfluous in public affairs, -wholly conducted from the masculine side,—mildness, gentleness, -moderation, purity, the power to endure without complaining, and to love -with utter devotion,—all these virtues we must carry intact into the new -circles of activity. Before all, however, we must strive to possess -them, indeed; those virtues in a large measure are only ascribed to us -in poems. - -“But that is not sufficient. If women are to enjoy equal rights with men -in deliberation and action, then they must also appropriate those -characteristics that are generally regarded as exclusively masculine -virtues: courage, steadfastness, energy, resolution, logical thought. On -the other hand, they must beware (thinking thus to legitimate their -claim to equal rights) of adopting those failings which are regarded as -masculine prerogatives: habits of drinking and brawling, brutality, -harshness, intemperance. If the emancipation of women develops in this -direction, as its opponents at the outset generally believed to be its -tendency, then it would be no blessing—it would be a curse. But this -will not happen. For humanity develops upward. And the coöperation of -both sexes in all callings will have as consequences that each will -adopt the virtues characteristic of the other and will drop the faults -and vices hitherto regarded as special privileges, so that they -themselves and the practice of their callings will be thereby ennobled. -Then there will not be mannish girls and coarse, manlike women, and no -effeminate men, but complete human beings of both sexes, standing on a -loftier plane!” - -Here Franka was interrupted by applause. As she stood there in her -thoroughly gracious womanliness, in her absolutely feminine dignity, at -the same time performing her great mission with such unshaken -conviction, she seemed, indeed, to be the personification of that -ideal—of combined tenderness and strength—which she had conjured up -before the audience. - -She continued speaking for some time longer. She depicted what had been -gained in positive social advantage by the participation of women in the -social duties of the present day, now that this movement was really on -the fair road to accomplishment. The battle against one of the worst -foes of humanity—alcoholism—had resulted in its greatest victories in -countries where women exercise an influence on the making of laws. The -war against another of the shameful blots on our civilization—the sexual -slavery of women; this is also to be eradicated only where pure and -blameless women have the courage to look the infamous evil in the face, -to call it by name, and to lead the revolt against it. Dueling and war -are two functions in which the feminine sex are forbidden to take part, -because they stand in absolute opposition to all those qualities and -feelings that characterize the feminine half of mankind. If now this -half should gain their due influence in the conduct of public life, then -those two deadly modes of settling disputes would no longer remain -legitimate. “The mission of woman, thus conceived, is anticipated and -poetically symbolized by the sovereign figure of the Madonna trampling a -dragon under her dainty foot.” - -Here the speaker paused for a moment. On many sides there was applause. -Yet many refrained from expressing approbation, because they felt -offended by Franka’s words—what did she mean by dragon? Could she mean -militarism? Or the whole masculine sex? Would she like to see petticoat -government established? Remarks were heard: “What idiots these feminists -are!” “And she is so pretty; she certainly would not need to take up -such fads!” - -On the other hand, those in the audience who did not understand German -were captivated by her appearance and entranced by her melodious voice. -They followed the occasional gestures with which she emphasized certain -phrases, and they kept their eyes fixed on her calm, white hands with -their long, tapering fingers and their rosy, gleaming nails. Her tone of -queenly calmness, now and again vibrating with restrained feeling, -exercised on all the same charm, whether they understood her spoken word -or not; and the very ones who could not understand applauded most -unrestrainedly, because they detected nothing in her speech to disturb -their convictions. Even De la Rochère clapped vigorously, as he -assuredly would not have done if he had known what she had been pleading -for: in his eyes there was nothing more ridiculous, nothing more -baneful, than the object aimed at in the Feminist Movement. In his eyes -“woman” was “une créature d’amour,” and this sentimentally uttered -epithet was, as he believed, the highest compliment that could be given -to a woman. Prince Victor Adolph found an artistic satisfaction in -listening to Franka’s address. For the cause itself, he had little -sympathy—it did not appeal to him. - -In the Sielenburg group a painful emotion was stirred. Coriolan gave -utterance to an inarticulate grunt of disapprobation; the Countess Adele -sighed; Fräulein Albertine raised her eyes beseechingly to heaven; only -Baron Malhof cried, with sincere warmth: “Ah, she is a splendid young -creature!” - -Franka proceeded: “I have indeed overpassed the limits that I once set -for myself as a field of labor. I am not accustomed to plead for the -conquest of professions and for attainment of political rights—all that -I leave to other champions of the Woman Movement. But if these callings -and rights come gradually into the hands of those of my sex, then they -must know how to exercise them; they must be educated to the task. Their -minds must be open and their interest must be awake to the universality -of the problems of civilization: these are all correlated, and for this -reason the only duty that I put before my young sisters was this: _Learn -how to think!_ But to-day, knowing that an echo from this address will -be carried to the remotest circles, and therefore also to those women -who stand in the van and who have already won such important strategic -points,—as, for example, the women in Australia,—I felt myself compelled -to drop those restrictions, in order to gaze out over the whole wide -field of the Woman Question. - -“And, in conclusion, I turn to the men that hear me: We demand nothing -of your magnanimity. We do not come as petitioners, but as givers—for -the time being as desirous of giving; for still a portion of mankind, -both men and women, reject the gifts we would confer. ‘Let things remain -as they are!’ this fundamental desideratum of the conservative spirit is -still cherished by the majority of women. Therefore, even among them -there is still a large proportion of those opposed to the Feminist -Movement. Among men, on the other hand, it numbers an ever-increasing -host of adherents. The admission of collective energy to the work for -the elevation and enrichment of human society is a matter of equal -concern to both halves. The ideal of that social condition in which -brutality is to be driven out, in which gentleness, benevolence, and -beauty are to become effective, is, God knows, no exclusively feminine -ideal. It has swept before the vision of all the great teachers of -mankind; and that is to-day also the guiding star of all those poets, -thinkers, and statesmen who are yearning for a new and better day and -are laboring to bring it to pass. - -“All these welcome the coöperation of women as a reinforcement of their -effective forces. The battle against ancient rooted evil, against the -dominion of force, is truly not easy, and the men who are conducting it -will only rejoice if to their aid come forth coadjutors and assistants -from the ranks of that half of mankind whose most distinctive domain -lies in those virtues which they are trying to diffuse. - -“Aye, this is what the new Eve is to become: a coadjutor recognized as -of equal value; and for this purpose must you, my young sisters, educate -yourselves, and for this purpose must you, my noble brethren,”—and here -she extended one hand toward her auditors,—“help and sustain us.” - -She bowed and stepped back. John Toker went to meet her and shook her -hand. The audience applauded vigorously. - - -During the social intermission following her address, Franka went down -into the hall. She was surrounded, and numerous admirers—both men and, -especially, women—asked to be introduced to her. She had the agreeable -feeling that she had made a good impression, and this conviction was -assured in her mind not so much by the warm reception given her by the -public as by the silent glance and pressure of the hand whereby Chlodwig -Helmer had expressed his satisfaction on the platform after she had -finished. - -Baron Malhof now mingled with the group that surrounded her. He offered -her his arm: “Come, please. Your aunts are eager to offer you their -congratulations.” - -“Really?” exclaimed Franka, astonished, as she took Malhof’s arm and -went with him. “I should never have believed it.” - -At the other end of the hall sat the two old ladies and Coriolan. - -“Here I come, bringing the conquering heroine,” said Malhof. - -Countess Adele moved along on her sofa to give room for Franka. “You -surprised me ... to talk so long at one stretch without stammering and -with no paper in your hand ... that is remarkable. It is plain that you -have had much practice. Aren’t you very tired?” - -“I am a little used up.... I have been dreading all day the ordeal of -speaking;—before so many people ... I mean those out in the wide -world ... and also to a certain degree before you. I realize how little -you approve of my speaking and of what I say.” - -“Well, that is quite true,” said Aunt Albertine. - -Coriolan wanted for once to be courteous: “Well, I must admit, your -voice is very pleasant and you do look very beautiful.” - -“But you ought to wear gloves,” remarked Albertine; “you notice, don’t -you, that everybody wears gloves?” - -Franka smiled. “But have you nothing to say about the subject of my -address?” - -“If you were to kill me,” replied Coriolan, “I could not tell you now -what you talked about. I am incapable of following a lecture for five -minutes consecutively.... I only know that you preached, girls ought to -be like men, and men like girls ... and, truly, that is not to my taste. -It would be a fine muddle—but it is the end and aim of all modern -movements—the topsy-turvy world! Fortunately, it is not so easily turned -topsy-turvy, and whatever you may talk—man remains man, and woman -remains woman—and that is as it ought to be.” - -The old countess came to Franka’s aid: “Franka only urged that both -ought to be better, and that surely could not do any harm to mankind. -But there is one thing that I should like to blame you for, Franka. If -you really want to improve people, why do you not draw their attention -to the injunctions of our holy Faith? And if you call attention to the -virtues of women, why do you forget the most womanly and most -important—piety? As far as I can remember, you did not say one single -word about religion.” - -“I spoke of goodness, of mercy, and of mildness—is not that religion?” - -“But, my dear friends,” cried Malhof at this juncture, “Miss Garlett is -certainly not an officer in the Salvation Army. Moreover, as far as -concerns these religious dogmas....” - -Countess Adele evidently wanted to turn the conversation from this -theme, for Malhof’s skepticism was well known to her: “Franka, tell me -where are you going, when this week is ended? Don’t you want to come to -the Sielenburg for a while?” - -“What am I going to do? I have not the slightest idea; I have an -invitation to London, but I am hesitating. If I go back to Austria, then -I will make you a visit at the Sielenburg. But now, I will say -good-evening. We shall meet again to-morrow.” - -She had gone only a few steps when Prince Victor Adolph joined her. - -“At last I can tell you, my dear young lady, how fascinating—but, no, I -will not pay you compliments; but I should like to have a little serious -discussion with you on what I heard you say this evening. You were -fascinating, that is a fact, but that is not the point. What I want to -talk about is the meaning and the scope of what you put before us. Your -idea certainly was not to please, but to attain something definite, -wasn’t it? This is what I should like to ask you about—your purpose. It -is not altogether clear to me.” - -“So you expect me to give you a private lesson on the Woman Question? -Very good, you may ask what you desire to know, and I will answer.” - -“Here is no place for a serious, undisturbed conversation, among all -these people fluttering about. Might I do myself the honor of calling on -you some afternoon?” - -“Certainly, Your Highness.” - -“Then perhaps to-morrow?” - -She nodded: “Yes, to-morrow at three o’clock.” - - - - - CHAPTER XX - ANOTHER LETTER FROM CHLODWIG HELMER - - -That night Helmer could not sleep. The experiences of the day had deeply -agitated him. First, the morning call on Franka. The feeling of panic -which she had so confidingly confessed to him, had seemed to transfer -itself to him. What if she should suffer discomfiture on that day, when, -so to speak, the whole world was directing its eyes on her? That would -embitter her whole career, and he felt that he was responsible for her -career. - -The crises had been successfully passed; Franka had borne herself -gallantly and had won a striking success, but this had not lessened his -agitation and the success did not seem to him sufficient. It had not -shown itself in the eager adherence of enthusiasts, filled with -gratitude and devotion, but in the condescending applause of a curious -and well-amused theater audience. To him she was a priestess, and to the -whole people yonder she was a—diva. Had she not done a priest-like and -heroic act? Had she not sacrificed herself in order to offer to the -world a part of what appeared to her as truth and wisdom—only to give -others, not herself, a little more happiness? For herself, indeed, she -had treasures of happiness at her disposal—youth, beauty, wealth, -freedom. Everything stood open before her: a life in the great world, -with all its enjoyments of luxury and pleasure, a life of love at the -side of a man who worshiped her, the joys of motherhood, ... and all -this she had thrown over in order to devote herself wholly and entirely -to the duties and cares of an apostleship.... - -“Oh, my poor Franka, my noble, sweet....” - -With these words, spoken aloud, he interrupted the course of his -thoughts. He was alarmed at the tender expression of his own voice—could -it be that he really was in love with her? At this question other -considerations occurred to him—circumstances which had mightily affected -him in the last few days: the offering of the violets ... and then, -after the address, just as he was about to go down into the hall to -speak with Franka, there stood the prince again at her side.... It had -caused a flaming agony to dart through his heart.... So he was jealous, -was he? It was not to be denied—he loved her! - -And even as he confessed the soft impeachment, he realized it as a heavy -load of trouble, but at the same time so delightful, that not for the -world would he have been willing to get rid of it. And was it really a -new love; was it not rather one long kindled, which for years had been -smouldering and had now burst into flame? Was not possibly this old -sentiment the reason why in all these years, in spite of many more or -less transient love-affairs, he had never been able to let his heart go -completely? As a dramatic poet he had enjoyed many opportunities of -frequenting the theater behind the scenes and many an adventure had come -in his way. One of them was an affair which lasted two years. But it had -not brought ease to his heart; rather it had become a burden. -Fortunately it had been broken off gradually and without pain on either -side. For some time he had been quite free, and was able to say that he -had never been under the spell of a genuine passion. Always this or that -quality had not quite satisfied him in those by whom he was attracted; -always he had discovered that they lacked something; and the secret of -it was, that he compared them all with Franka Garlett; not one of them -came up to that ideal. - -The following morning a letter was brought to Franka. She was sitting -again on her balcony and looking out over the forest. Her first thought -was, that the missive came from Victor Adolph, but a glance at the -handwriting dispelled this assumption—the letter was from Helmer. She -tore open the envelope and read:— - - - _Two o’clock in the morning._ It is in vain—I cannot sleep. Racing - pulse and whirling thoughts deprive me of all possibility of rest. Now - it occurs to me that I have the prescriptive right to address a letter - at rare intervals to a sister-soul with whom I may commune most - intimately. - - I am making use of this right and I have sat down at my desk. It - stands by the open window and bright moonlight is streaming into the - room. Only this sheet of paper is illuminated by my shaded lamp—the - rest of the room is all bathed in soft, silvery blue. I had put on my - clothes to take a stroll in the garden and to cool my fever in the - moon-enchanted night air. But I can put before you something of the - overflow of my thoughts. You yourself are the center of these - thoughts. What has so disturbed me is the experience that I went - through to-day on account of you and because of you. And in this - emotion so much was revealed to my consciousness concerning you and - myself ... but I am going to write you here only of what concerns you, - what touches your life. I leave myself out of the question. It would - be very enticing now, when I am coming to you for refuge in this - moment of restlessness and loneliness, to make you the confidante of - my trouble,—for I have that,—but it is my own secret. - - Now let me speak of you and your address. I had no opportunity of - talking with you about it. You disappeared in the hall; first you were - surrounded by the Sielenburg people and then you were accosted by the - prince. Shortly afterwards you retired, evidently exhausted by your - triumph. For it was a triumph in spite of the panic which tormented - you in the morning. You spoke with sovereign assurance, and said all - that was to be said. Indeed, you went beyond your accustomed - domain,—the education of women for an intellectual participation in - the questions of the day; you entered the domain of actual - feminism—for you pleaded for practical coöperation of women in - government and lawmaking. But such general and abstract considerations - do little toward the attainment of this end. The gradual conquest of - the whole will be accomplished only by practical workers in details, - doing practical things, here one and there one, thousands of them in - thousands of different places. And this development is already in full - swing, though it still lags far behind the ideal which you have - foreseen. - - Yet, what am I driving at? Here I am speaking also of generalities - which do not interest me at this moment. What interests me now is - yourself, is your life. My conscience reproaches me that when you gave - me all your confidence, as to a brother in the spirit, I pointed out - to you this path where you are entirely forgetting yourself. I was the - one who suggested the word “Renunciation” as the countersign of that - path. - - Yet I recall that I added: this full devotion to the cause would be - demanded only for a few years. These years are now past. Your duty, as - far as you could fulfill it, is fulfilled. With generous hands you - have scattered the seed of great ideas into the world of women. You - have called into existence the Garlett Academy, and lavished a large - part of your fortune on it—it is working on in your spirit. The - congregation of the “Frankistinnen” has been formed and is spreading. - It is no longer necessary for you to throw your whole self into the - work of the propaganda; it will go forward henceforth automatically. - Let your address of to-day be the last of your public addresses. - - It will find an echo in a thousand places—it will be perpetuated in - the “Rose Annals”—it makes a brilliant finale. Laboriously and - courageously and persistently, you have put your shoulder to the wheel - to set it in motion;—now it is in full motion ... what is the use of - pushing it any more? Time will bring you other work; but there is no - reason for you to go out and seek work—you must think of living, you - must think of your own still fresh, joy-deserving life. You are here - also “to share in loving,” Franka. And now I come back to Prince - Victor Adolph. I believe he worships you. He is no ordinary man. I - have trustworthy information as to his worthiness. Do not do violence - to your heart if it beats for him. - - -Having reached this point, Franka dropped the sheet into her lap—she had -not expected this. The first words of the letter, “racing pulse and -whirling thoughts,” thoughts which complemented her picture—she would -sooner have been prepared for his appealing to her heart for himself and -not for another. Well, it was better so. In this way her “_Brother -Chlodwig_” was not lost to her. - -She had no idea what it had cost him. At the very place where she ceased -reading, he had ceased writing. He had sprung to his feet, and, clasping -his head in both hands, had groaned aloud. He paced several times up and -down the room in his excitement. Then he leaned out of the window and -gazed toward the horizon which already betrayed a pallid premonition of -the early dawn. The moon was veiled in passing clouds and one or two -stars were twinkling. “One may not yearn to grasp the stars!” Have I not -often repeated this to myself? He was vexed with himself. This jealous -emotion seemed to him senseless, unworthy. He must and would crush it -down, and the very best way before him was to help Franka to incline to -the prince. And so he went on writing:— - - - I really believe that an alliance with this royal prince might make - you happy in several directions: first through merely loving—that - crown of life—why should you not make it yours? And secondly, if the - opportunity is given you, to work for your, for our, ideals (and in - this word “our” I include also the spirit of your father). Only think - what might be accomplished in this important, influential position. - How the young prince would be strengthened and inspired by you in his - bold, independent ideas. There is certainly no genuine happiness on - earth for the like of us, unless we continue to work for the great - objects which our longing eyes have beheld. We cannot, as long as we - live, cease our efforts. In the midst of every other kind of happiness - this work remains our chief desire, as it is our consolation in every - misfortune. In my own trouble—I confessed to you that I have trouble—I - am still with the half of my soul—the better half of my soul—at my - task. You have already fulfilled your task for the Rose-Week Festival. - Before me is still my reading in the presence of the whole world. I am - not—like Franka Garlett—used to public speaking; my tool is the pen. - So I look forward to this ordeal not without trembling, yet not - without pleasure. It is a splendid opportunity to pour out what fills - the soul to overflowing. I burn to be heard and understood. Not - because I flatter myself that I have something beautiful to say, but - something that may bring help. But how to find the right words? - - The things that float before my mind are so dazzling and so new, while - the words that one has at one’s disposal are so banal and so flat. The - sublimest concepts, like goodness, freedom, right, have become dimmed - by so many editorials, committee speeches, and election proclamations, - that they have lost all their brilliancy—what is worse, all their - value. The lofty thoughts mined from the new time lie in bars, like - gold, but in order to bring them into circulation, one must first coin - them into new words, while we have only thin and worn coins to pass. - If we come to the modern man—I mean a man with broad philosophical and - æsthetic views—with these morality-dripping words (a morality which - has been amply preached but never practiced in all these thousands of - years), then it moves him like the admonition, “Be a good little boy,” - spoken to a grown-up man. - - It is beginning to dawn—this is no metaphor: you know the old fault of - my style of letter-writing, but this time I have really had no other - meaning—it is beginning to grow light. In order to scare away the - torment of sleepless night hours, I have written till morning. In the - foliage-crowned trees awakens the twittering of birds. What is it that - they have to say to one another every day at waking and every evening - before they compose themselves to sleep? - - Now I am going to shut my window, pull down the Venetian blinds, and - try to get a little rest. It has refreshed me writing to you. Perhaps - I may have a nap—perhaps even a dream.... - - CHLODWIG. - - -Franka and Helmer sat together as usual at luncheon. Franka had come in -a little late. - -“Well,” said she, as she took her place, “did you have your dream?” - -“Yes, I dreamed about you. I saw you standing on the platform again -and ...” - -“And it was to be for the last time, was it?” interrupted Franka. “You -wrote me, didn’t you, because it would be easier than to say to me, by -word of mouth, during breakfast: ‘Miss Garlett, you spoke very -indifferently. You are no longer accomplishing your work—retire!’” - -“Oh,” exclaimed Chlodwig, pained, “did you understand me _so_?” - -“The principal thing I understood was that you were in a very melancholy -and excited frame of mind and came to me for comfort: that delights me. -And one thing more—you desire my happiness. But do you really think it -beckons in the direction you suppose? Two or three bunches of violets -are hardly to be regarded as an offer of marriage. Up to the present -time, I have not the slightest ground for supposing that Prince Victor -Adolph has ever thought of such a thing.” - -“He has not intimated to you that he is in love with you?” This question -was in a jubilant tone. - -“No, and if he should do so, do you know what ... what I ... well, I -confess, I am not quite certain myself.... Perhaps it would have been -better if you had not suggested such a thing ... you have kindled a -spark in my heart.” - -Their dialogue, carried on in an undertone, was interrupted by Mr. -Toker, who from the other side of the table engaged Franka in -conversation. - -After the luncheon was finished and the company had drifted into the -adjoining salons, Gwendoline took Franka’s arm. - -“Oh, Miss Garlett,” said she in a voice trembling with emotion, “I must -thank you. You have no idea what an impression you made on me, you fill -me with admiration....” - -Franka made the courteous deprecatory sign with her head with which we -are accustomed to receive flattering phrases. - -“No, no, no!” cried the young American girl vehemently, “I should not be -so presumptuous, stupid thing that I am, to pay you mere compliments. I -wanted just to tell you what feelings you awakened in me ... not merely -agreeable feelings—for it is certainly not agreeable to be made ashamed -of one’s self, when one has hard things to say to one’s own face; as, -for example: ‘You are certainly an empty-headed creature, Gwen! You must -decidedly improve, my girl, if you want to rise again in my -estimation’....” - -“And why did you speak so disrespectfully to Miss Toker?” - -“Oh, you understand me perfectly. You know right well, when you address -young girls, that hitherto very, very few among them have ever thought -with you. I belong to the majority. I have always kept aloof from -serious things; for instance, I have not the slightest remembrance what -that clever Frenchman said yesterday—my attention was wholly diverted to -the various groups in the hall, for I had discovered several comical -people. When you began to speak, I was interested in the way the folds -of your gown fell—there was something Greek about it. Who knows, whether -I should have listened to your words at all, if you had not suddenly -addressed your speech directly to young girls. Then I had to listen to -what you had to say to me, and after that I did not lose another word. I -did not understand it all, nor can I remember it all, but so much I -know—I should like to be your pupil. Do teach me to think, show me my -place in the world, so that I may accomplish something, be of some -use.... You see, papa has always treated me as a child, and I have never -been interested in his plans: I never thought that there was anything in -them for us young people....” - -“Oh,” cried Franka, “it is precisely the young and the youngest who are -called and who are capable of walking in new paths. For that reason we -all (I mean, we whose aspirations are directed to the future) look with -such hope to America, for there the whole land is so young....” - -“And we Americans look so timidly and admiringly up to Europe, because -it is old and venerable. All we have, we have from you.” - -“And you are going to repay us richly for that. For what is going to -ameliorate our future,—inventions, wealth, free institutions, peace,—all -that you will carry over to us. Mr. Toker is a messenger of that kind.” - -“Oh, my dear father ... I fear I do not know him as I should.” - -Gwendoline went on to explain that she had never lived very much in her -father’s society. In her childhood, she had been almost entirely in her -grandmother’s hands, as her mother had died when she was born; and then, -when six years ago the grandmother died, the child, then eleven, was -entrusted to a Swiss _Pensionat_, from which only the year before she -had returned to her own country. In this excellent _Pensionat_ she had -received the usual education of young ladies—that is to say, to take a -part rather in dancing than in thinking. She had got only one idea there -of the Woman Movement—that it was a far from elegant aberration of -high-strung females. What Franka had said about it was a revelation to -her. Now she felt she must and would accomplish something—Miss Garlett -must instruct and advise her further. - -Franka now felt obliged to tear herself away from this interview. She -was expecting a caller. She kissed the eager young disciple, whose -attitude toward her filled her with joyous pride. “To-morrow we will -talk further about this, my dear girl; I must go now.” - -She summoned Frau von Rockhaus and went with her to her rooms. Shortly -afterwards Prince Victor Adolph was announced. Franka went forward to -greet him. Frau Eleonore, who was sitting near the window, stood up and -curtseyed, but immediately resumed her seat, for the call did not -concern her. - -Franka’s heart began to beat more quickly. “Helmer is to blame for -this,” said she to herself with vexation. - -After the first interchange of greetings and after they had sat down the -prince said:— - -“Permit me to enter _in medias res_ without delay, and ask you the -questions which I have on my mind.” - -He did not speak loud. Frau von Rockhaus, who from her remote corner was -visible _de profil perdu_, could not hear what was said. - -“Well, I am ready to listen,” said Franka, and raised her eyes to her -visitor. - -Once more she realized that she had never seen a handsomer and more -elegant man than this young prince. Yet, in his attitude there was a -certain haughty, peculiarly unbending reserve—more noticeable if -possible than ever. It was as if something had annoyed him. - -“I heard you yesterday for the second time, Miss Garlett. You spoke as -eloquently as you did the first time, perhaps even more so; but you -crossed over into another field where I could not well follow you.” - -“How so? I still treat the same question.” - -“But from a different standpoint. When I heard you in Germany, you -protested that you were not going to stand for the current aims of -feminism—the franchise, candidacy for all public offices, and the like; -that sort of thing you would leave to others. You would only urge that -women should cultivate their intellect sufficiently to interest -themselves in political and social life, so that by their influence they -might be capable of imparting something of feminine virtues into the -conduct of political and social affairs ... that is what I understood -you to say.” - -“You understood quite correctly, Your Highness.” - -“And suddenly yesterday you began to join in all the extreme demands of -the Women’s Rights party,—female voters, female members of -Parliament—how can I tell to what extent they would go ... no ... there -I am opposed. Perhaps I am reactionary, but I shudder at the mere -thought of seeing women—delicate, lovely women—dragged about in the -dusty battle-field.” - -“Do you mean Parliaments? Parliaments need not be dusty and need not be -battle-fields, but places for work.” - -“Why yes, you expect that all will be changed. But that is the very -thing I dread. There is so much that is fine, it would be a pity to -change it—in other words, to destroy it. As, for example, suppose one -were to cultivate nothing but vegetables instead of flowers. Of course, -it would be more useful. And the captivating types of women who are to -be found in our present state of civilization—to see them all -disappear—that would be, indeed, deplorable. And must every woman have a -calling? Wife, mother, sweetheart—are not those also callings?” - -“There is no need of excluding others—just like husband, father, lover!” - -“They are not to be compared. Oh, it has often been lamented that the -world is robbed of its gods—I tremble at the thought that it may be -robbed of its feminine elements. I question whether this whole movement -for equality—because it is contrary to nature—is not to be regarded as a -temporary aberration, now and again doing harm and destined to -disappear. Please give me your ideas about this.” - -Franka interrupted him with an impatient movement of her hand. The trend -of the conversation affected her unpleasantly. “Excuse me, Your -Highness, I cannot give you a second lecture! I should not convert you, -for your objection does not rest on grounds of reason, but is rather -instinctive and therefore especially vehement. Nor have I the wish to -convert you. My specialty, as you yourself have remarked, is certainly -not that of the militant feminist. It is remarkable, what an effect my -yesterday’s address has produced: it moved a good friend to advise me to -give up the whole thing—while it made the brilliant daughter of the -house my enthusiastic disciple; and it entirely revolted you, Your -Highness.” - -Victor Adolph started: “Good Heavens, how can you use such a -word—revolt! Your address enchanted me, as your whole being enchants me, -but the theme—yes, you are quite right—aroused an instinctive antipathy. -And it would have been pleasant to me if you had been willing to explain -your meaning, yet this expectation was presumptuous. Do not be angry -with me.” - -He rose and took his leave. Franka did not attempt to detain him. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - NEW WONDERS - - -The programme of that evening began with an aviation festival over the -lake. A surprise had been prepared: the first trial of a new method of -flight. The invention had been worked out and tested privately under -John Toker’s patronage; this day it was to be exhibited before the -world. - -The festival began at six o’clock. The weather was marvelously fine. A -cloudless blue sky, the temperature, seasonable for June, was warm, but -agreeably moderated by a cool breeze which ruffled the surface of the -lake. On the shores a fleet of boats was arrayed with streamers and -flowers, and provided with rugs and soft pillows. On the opposite side -lay a number of passenger vessels, the decks of which had been hired for -spectators. The population of Lucerne stood in dense throngs along the -lake. Excitement and anticipation stirred through the crowd. The -spectacle of aeroplanes and flying-machines had, indeed, already by this -time lost its heart-thrilling fascination. It was no longer as in 1909 -and 1910, when the sight of these pioneers of the upper air seemed to -take one’s very breath away, when they still seemed to be both dream and -miracle. The device had now become extremely common everywhere: in many -places airships were making regular trips, aeroplanes had been adopted -widely as vehicles of sport and luxury, just as automobiles had several -years before, and every nation possessed its little air-fleet. No one -longer uttered the exclamation, “Ah!” when a flyer shot up into the -air—the marvel had become a commonplace—was simply taken for granted. - -But on this occasion, expectation had been once more keyed to the -highest pitch. It was known that when Toker promised a surprise, -something sensational was going to be produced, something that was not -only magnificent and unprecedented, but also of vital significance and -calculated to give contemporary society an uplift into new regions. - -A programme had been issued for the aviation festival. At six o’clock -commencement of evolutions in the air over the lake; at seven o’clock: a -surprise announced by three cannon shots. - -More than half an hour before the specified hour, the boats, the -vessels, the wharves, and also the windows and balconies of the villas -and the hotels facing the lake were packed. At the stroke of six, the -Toker flotilla of flying-machines ascended and began to perform their -evolutions. - -“Those aeroplanes are masked and costumed,” cried one of the spectators, -and that exactly expressed it. These air-vehicles had the shape of all -kinds of historical and imaginary equipages. The primitive type of -superposed and juxtaposed frames without sides was no longer affected. -The wonderful things swept slowly, one behind the other, at a -comparatively low elevation, circling about the lake, as far as it was -peopled with spectators. - -Now the throng really uttered its “Ah!” for such graceful vessels had -never before been seen in the air. Slender ships with inflated sails, -Roman chariots, Venetian gondolas, Lohengrin swans, enormous shells -glittering in mother-of-pearl and the like, were occupied by aviators, -appropriately costumed. The planes and apparatus used for propulsion and -steering were concealed with plenty of white and gray material, which -looked like clouds, giving a magically picturesque effect. A -manufacturer of flying-machines, present among the spectators, shrugged -his shoulders and remarked to a bystander: “Child’s play with -masquerade!” - -Several hundred metres high in the air above the heads of the spectators -circled a great airship of the Zeppelin type. That, according to the -rumor, was to be the bearer of the surprise. - -Franka sat in one of the boats with her companion and several other of -Toker’s house-guests. General conversation was going on, and Franka, -leaning back on her cushion, gave herself up to her thoughts. A peculiar -melancholy weighed on her spirit—a feeling of isolation. A few hours -previous there had been awaiting her something which she had looked -forward to with keen anticipation, something which promised to give her -a powerful emotion:—the visit of Prince Victor Adolph. Helmer had been -responsible for this expectation. The words in his letter were, “He -worships you”; he must have known it, else he would not have written so -authoritatively, and those three words had gone through her like an -electric shock. And what had the visit brought her? A bit of ill humor, -nothing else. Not only the man did not worship her; he did not even -understand her; her activities and her views were alien if not repulsive -to him. Fortunately, she was not in love with him as yet, but only on -the point of being. Consciously she had felt: It has not come as yet, -but it is coming, it is coming.... She had heard it knocking at her door -and had said, “Come in!”—but across the doorsill entered—nothing. - -At this moment a mortar shot rang out. All looked up into the air. The -Zeppelin began to descend in great spirals; now it was about fifty -metres high. The basket and its passengers could be distinctly seen. -Three or four persons were sitting in it and two forms were standing -close to the rail. Another shot: the rail was thrown open. For Heaven’s -sake—the two forms might fall out. And sure enough—for just here the -third shot was heard, and the two swung off over the edge. A cry rose -from all throats. The two figures as they fell stretched out their arms -and with a quick motion unfolded a great pair of wings. It was a young -man and a young girl. The youth wore striped tricot which gave his body -the aspect of a butterfly’s form and the two wings were shaped like a -butterfly’s. The maiden was enveloped in a white flowing robe which came -down below her feet; her face was framed in blond curls and her wings -were white and long like those frequently depicted as adorning the -shoulders of the guardian of Paradise, the Archangel Michael, or those -of the angel of the Annunciation. - -Butterfly and angel floated down in an oblique, gently gliding flight. -The throng was now breathless and dumb. In the center of the lake was -stationed a large float; it was supposed that the daring flyers would -land on it, but before they reached it, they turned up from a height of -five or six metres, and, mounting, flew horizontally, came back, then -flew down, and mounted again, performing aerial evolutions, crossing -above the fantastic aeroplanes, and then returned to the Zeppelin which -once more received them. - -A tumultuous uproar of applause rang through the air. An immense feeling -of happiness and victory stirred all hearts. So now the air was actually -made subservient to mankind. Without an engine, independent as a bird, -one could rise from the ground, glide through the air, rise and sink -away, be conscious of the motion; it was, indeed, an intoxicating gain! - - -The address given that evening in the theater auditorium of the -Rose-Palace concerned the new acquisition. The inventor, a hitherto -unknown young English engineer, gave an exposition of the mechanism of -his artificial wings, and related how for some years in all secrecy, -under Mr. Toker’s auspices, he had been carrying on his investigations, -labors, and experiments until at last he had been able to make a gift of -his accomplished work to his fellow-men. - -After the inventor had concluded his address, Toker himself stepped -forward and announced that no other addresses would be given that -evening, but that the respected public might enjoy the consciousness -that henceforth no one would any longer need to envy the birds. - -The auditorium was now transformed into a social assembly-room where the -liveliest conversation was carried on. The topic of applicable pinions -truly gave sufficient material for all sorts of interesting variations. -Some rejoiced, others bewailed, still others tried to perpetrate -witticisms; all were full of astonishment; exclamations flew about in -merry confusion. - -“I shall be mighty grateful when market-women, instead of swallows and -doves, shall be seen flying round in the air with their baskets.” - -“In place of the light-horse regiment we shall now have regiments of -light birds.” - -“The joy of such self-constituted flight must be supermundane in the -true sense of the word.” - -“The world grows richer, more beautiful, more wonderful every day.” - -“We will rather say: more unpleasant, more weird.” - -“Where are the days when people were satisfied to travel on two feet or -at most with four or eight horses’ feet? Now we must have roller-skates, -skis, bicycles, motors, balloons, aeroplanes, and here at last -duplex-elliptic back-action folding wings.” - -“Women will no longer turn into hyenas, but rather into wild geese.” - -“Do you long for constancy still, my dear madam? now, when we are all -become fly-away?” - -Franka had retired early to her own rooms. She felt quite unstrung and -hungry for solitude. Prince Victor Adolph had not put in an appearance -either on the water or in the hall. Was he avoiding her? This was the -first time that he had missed any of the exercises. His absence troubled -Franka, and she drew disagreeable conclusions from it. Her conclusions, -however, were baseless. The absence of the prince was not in any way -connected with Franka. That afternoon, a near relative had arrived at -Lucerne, to stay only a few hours, and the prince had been obliged to -spend the time with him. The two had watched the wonderful flights from -the balcony of their hotel. - -Franka was glad that Frau Eleonore had not joined her in coming upstairs -but had remained below in the hall. Her companion, who had been with her -now for some years, was dear and sympathetic to her, but she had never -admitted her to a real heart intimacy. Spiritually, also, the woman had -never been to her what is called a “resource”; she lacked the “uplift.” -A cheerful, harmless, honest mind, a lady to her finger-tips, not given -to narrow judgments, but also lacking in a bold outlook, she had every -quality of a model companion; but she was far from being the ideal of an -intimate friend such as Franka really needed. And, therefore, in hours -when she was in any way depressed, when an indefinite yearning came over -her, when she meditated on God and the world and herself, she always -preferred to be alone rather than have Frau Eleonore with her. - -She stepped out on the balcony and leaned against the railing. It was a -warm night; the air was heavy as if a storm were threatening. Along the -horizon frequent sheet-lightning flashed against a background of -intensely black clouds; above, the sky was clear and the stars were -shining brilliantly. The fir grove which bordered the garden stood dark -with the white sand-strewn paths meandering through the trees. A gentle -rustling could be heard in the branches. A screech-owl lamented -somewhere in the distance, and from the near-by pool came the subdued -call of a toad at long intervals; it was assuredly a lonely creature -which, sighing again and again, queried: “Is there no other toad near -me?” Everywhere—loneliness! That was the mood that drifted down upon -Franka from this nature—perhaps because she invested nature with this -very mood. Yonder, each flash of lightning zigzagged down for itself -alone, unconcerned about its forerunners and successors; in obtuse -egoism sparkles every star without caring that, many millions of miles -away, other stars are pursuing their own courses; the tree-tops must -rock as the wind bends them without other trees coming to their aid—yes, -the most perfect indifference reigns wherever she might turn; were she -to die that moment, the lightning would continue to flash this way and -that; the toad would not call in the least degree more mournfully and -the stars in all eternity would not have the slightest notion of it. -Alone ... alone ... that was the keynote of the whole concert of dread -and melancholy which whispered around her. - -She stretched her arms out toward the vacant night and drew such a deep -breath that its expiration was a groan. Then she sat wearily down in a -soft, upholstered wicker chair, leaned her head back, and in her -lassitude and depression of spirits the consciousness that she was -resting did her good physically. But psychically her indefinite longing -developed into a hot sense of woe. Her eyes filled with tears. Oh, how -good it would be to have some fond heart on which she might pour out her -sorrows ... yet if she had, perhaps she would not have the impulse to -weep! For in that case the pain, the dull pain, called “loneliness,” -would be cured! - -She sat there for some time, thinking of no definite person and -conscious of no definite trouble; she merely felt sad, in a certain -sense platonically sad. Her thoughts were without clear outlines: all -that she had experienced—and missed—that day flowed into a hazy picture. -Her eyes closed and gradually she began to doze: her indefinite thoughts -were confused into a still more indefinite dream. - -Again it seemed to be clear day around her. The call of the toad and the -rustling of the leaves had ceased. In place of them there seemed to be -the light, murmuring plash of the oar. She was sailing in a gondola on -the lake and the boatmen were Helmer and Victor Adolph—both in the -characteristic garb and attitude of Venetian gondoliers. The slender -black boat was surrounded by cloud-borne aviators. Ah, if she could only -wing her way up into the upper air in such an airship. The wish was -followed—as so often occurs in dreams—by its instantaneous fulfillment. -A hovering cloud-car took her up and bore her away. She wanted to call -to the gondoliers, but they had vanished together with the gondola. All -around her only clouds were to be seen, rushing onward and changing -their shapes like locomotive smoke which one sees streaming by the train -windows. Soon her equipage rose above this region of clouds and the sky -grew blue over her head. In easy motion it went up—up and down in -rhythmical regularity like a swing, but like a swing which at every -gyration lifts farther from the earth; then another forward plunge in -speediest flight—like a sailboat driven before a wild wind;—nothing more -was to be seen of the earth. On the zenith a dazzling orb—is that the -sun? How, then, can her eyes endure its brightness? The orb grew ever -larger; it was coming nearer ... for Heaven’s sake, how high was she -doomed to mount? - -A sense of terror darted through Franka’s limbs.... “Enough! Enough!” -she cried and looked everywhere in her vehicle.... Where then is the -helmsman? No one! she was all alone. “Alone”—that was the anguishing -word which just before had been oppressing her heart; but now for the -first time she understood it in its most gruesome sense: alone in the -universe! What in comparison was all earthly solitude? Ever higher she -arose toward the sun-resembling orb; ever wilder became the storm -wind ... whither, whither, into what boundlessness filled with horrors? -A paroxysm of anguish and terror contracted her heart. Then she felt a -strong arm flung protectingly around her; one of the gondoliers stood at -her side. She could not see his face; only that strong, rescuing arm -with its warm clasp filled her dreamy consciousness with a hitherto -unknown joy of security. The little airship now glided gently downwards. -It was a blissful feeling: the antithesis of loneliness, a lovely sense -of safety; a tide of tenderness billowed, literally billowed, around -her, for it was to her as if great warm drops fell on her forehead and -trickled caressingly over her body. If one might imagine a paroxysm of -appeasing—this miracle she experienced in her dream. - -But even in a dream the extreme of happiness lasts only a second. The -equipage had become entangled in a knot of other airships which -precipitated themselves on one another—painfully their fragments fell -into her face; a booming salvo of artillery tore the air, and Franka, -awakening, found herself sitting on her balcony in a heavy shower of -hail, and the storm, which had broken, was raging with lightning and -loud peals of thunder. She jumped up to run into her room and at that -instant she felt that the bar of the blind, loosened by the wind, had -fallen on her chair, and slipped down to her side. - -Just then Frau Rockhaus appeared at the balcony door. “Why! Are you -here? I should not have thought of looking for you here. How do you -happen to be out in all this storm? It has been raining for a long time, -and now it is hailing and thundering. You are wet through.” - -“Yes, dear Eleonore; I merely fell sound asleep.” - -“Who ever heard of such a thing! Now, get to bed as quickly as you can.” - -“Yes, I will. Please ring for the maid, and goodnight.” - -As soon as her light was put out and she had composed herself for going -to sleep, a vivid recollection of her dream came to her. Again she -believed that she felt the strong arm at her side,—it must have been the -bar,—and she tried to conjure back that peculiar consciousness of -security which, after the terror of the blood-curdling plunge into -endless space, had so deeply inspired her.... She succeeded in doing so: -she could bring back almost the whole dream with all its details, and -she felt enriched by a new experience. Can it be, then, that such a -heavenly refuge, such a paradise of security can be found? - -It was long before she went to sleep again; indeed, she did not care to -sleep, for the sweet recollection of the dream, like a slight -intoxication of opium, was more refreshing, more tranquilizing than any -sleep. Only toward dawn did she fall into a deep, sound slumber. - -When she awoke the sun was already high. She felt strengthened and full -of joyous life. The melancholy of the evening before had been dispelled. -It even caused no diminution of her good spirits, when, in the course of -the forenoon, her aunts came to see her. - -“Oh, it is lovely of you to visit me ... please sit down. Now tell me, -how do you enjoy being with us? Isn’t it all wonderful?” - -The old ladies sat down. Then Franka for the first time noticed that -their faces expressed a certain solemn sullenness. - -“We have come to say good-bye, Franka,” said Countess Adele. - -“We cannot endure it any longer,” added Fräulein Albertine in -explanation. - -“What, you are going to leave Lucerne, before the Rose-Week is ended?” - -The countess nodded. “Yes, we are leaving to-day. I believe that, if I -were to remain longer, I should lose my mind. These flyings up in the -air, these uncanny pictures on the sky, all these upsetting performances -and declamations.... No, it is not normal at all, I might almost say not -_comme il faut_. We of our class cannot take any pleasure in it. -Yesterday evening, at supper, I declared that I was going home. -Albertine was agreeable.” - -“Perfectly agreeable,” corroborated Albertine. - -“Coriolan was delighted; only Malhof—he was furious—he is going to stay. -We do not need him. Coriolan is sufficient protection for our return -journey. He is a genuine knight of the good old stamp.... Now, tell me -about the prince who was paying you such pronounced attention the day -before yesterday.... Why did he not show himself yesterday? Is the -affair at an end?” - -“’Tis no affair at all,” replied Franka testily. - -Fräulein Albertine nodded assent: “You are quite right, not to get any -such idea into your head. Men of such elevated rank seldom have honest -intentions—certainly not with one of the ‘emancipated’ women.” - -“Well, I should have liked Franka to make such a match,” said the -great-aunt soothingly. “Morganatic marriages are frequently contracted. -But you will never lack suitors, for you are pretty; and such little -escapades as lecturing will be forgiven you, especially as in the mean -time you have managed to retain your respectability.... But where is -Rockhaus?” - -“Gone out for a walk.” - -“And you here alone? That is not correct. You must be very circumspect. -What I was going to say apropos of your getting married ... there is a -cousin of mine—not Coriolan—no longer as young as he used to be, a -widower, but of very high nobility; that would be worth while. Do you -know, with the Sielenburg estates you ought to marry into the -aristocracy, so that they would come into the right hands again. You -yourself could get an assured position in society and lead a happy life. -Certainly, you could never feel lastingly contented among all these -Americans and Russians and vagabond people, and wandering round yourself -with them.... I should wish my brother’s grandchild a pleasanter -existence: I want to see her respectably settled.... Didn’t some one -knock? It must be Coriolan; he promised to come round here and fetch us. -He has only to get the railway tickets for us, ... I was right ... it is -he. Come in, come right in, Coriolan; Franka will be glad to see you.” - -Franka was, indeed, glad—but chiefly because these three inestimable -relatives were going to betake themselves away, and she firmly proposed -to break off once more the interrupted and patched-up acquaintance. -Behind Coriolan followed a servant, who brought the customary great -basket of violets. - -“From His Royal Highness, Prince Victor Adolph,” said he. - -A vivid flush mounted to Franka’s cheeks. She indicated with her hand -that the basket was to be placed on the table. The servant obeyed and -left the room. - -“Aha!” exclaimed the Countess Adele sagaciously. - -“Ei, ei,” commented Fräulein Albertine. - -Coriolan felt that it was incumbent on him to say something. “When a -pretty woman sings or dances or speaks on the stage, then they send her -flowers—that’s the way it goes.” - -“Yes, it has no other significance,” said Franka. “Will you not sit -down? And are you really going to take the ladies away?” - -“Indeed, I am, and with the greatest pleasure. I am more homesick even -than they are. Here one gets the blues, or is driven wild with rage.” - -“But there are such interesting events still coming off,” remarked -Franka. “An American inventor is going to tell us of the most unheard-of -things, things that will quite revolutionize the future.” - -Coriolan shrugged his shoulders: “There are nothing but unheard-of -things here. It would be much better to teach people to go back to the -past, to cultivate their historical sense, than to be always trying to -stir up new rubbish. Is the man going to speak to-day?” - -“No, Chlodwig Helmer is to speak to-day.” - -“Well, that does not tempt me. On the Sielenburg he always preserved a -discreet silence; only once he broke out and what he said—I don’t -remember what it was—turned my stomach. I regard him as a radical.” - -“Eduard was very much attached to him,” spoke up the Countess Adele in -defense of the former secretary; “he would not have kept a radical so -long.... But, children, we must be going now. It is lunch-time and there -is still much to do about packing.” - -She stood up. The others followed her example, and they took their -leave. It was not a painful parting. Franka drew a breath of relief when -the door closed behind her relatives. But the door opened again, and -Fräulein Albertine came back with a deep air of mystery. - -“Franka,” she whispered, “I have restrained myself all the time we were -here, because I did not want to offend you; but I consider it my duty to -warn you—it is for your best: do not eat too much, and take much -exercise, you are beginning to grow stout! There, now I must hasten to -overtake the others. Adieu! God bless you!” And she was off. - -Franka had to smile: that was so like Albertine. She cast a glance at -herself in the pier-glass and turned away not at all alarmed: there was -no fault to be found with the elegance of her figure. - -Now she hastened to the table where the basket of flowers was standing -and detached the note that she saw gleaming among the violets. What -might the prince—one of the gondoliers of her dream—have written to her? -Perhaps a declaration of love! She hastily tore open the envelope which -bore a small royal coronet in gold. It was no declaration of love, but -only a formal apology for having been absent the day before, which he -explained “was due to the passage in Berne of an exalted personage.” -Franka was possibly a little disappointed—but in reality it was better -so. The one, on whose strong arm she leaned in her dream, was perhaps -the other gondolier. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - CHLODWIG HELMER’S LECTURE: THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR - - -On the fourth day of the Rose-Week, the auditorium was as usual filled -to the last seat. At the right, on the front of the platform, a kind of -proscenium-box had been set up, designed for the special guests who had -signified their intention of being present,—the King of Italy and the -President of the French Republic. Besides these two chief executives, -there were several other members of the ruling families of Europe in the -hall, but they were mingled with the other auditors. On the stage, the -speaker’s desk was placed in the center, but pushed somewhat to the -rear, and in the background sat as usual Mr. Toker, his daughter, and a -number of his distinguished guests. Some of them, however, had preferred -to listen to the exercises from the body of the house. - -It was still ten minutes before the hour set for the commencement, but -the hall was already packed; only the King and the President had not as -yet appeared. Lively conversation buzzed through the place. Persons who -naturally belonged together sat in little groups: thus, for example, the -two widows, Countess Solnikova and Frau Annette Felsen, accompanied by -several gentlemen, among them Marchese Rinotti and Baron de la Rochère, -as if they were in their own salon; the Countess Schollendorf, -Albertine, Coriolan, and Malhof formed a little Austrian colony, to -which the well-known sportsman also joined himself. Franka Garlett with -her companion sat in the background of a small box, just out of sight of -the public. - -Franka’s excitement was great. She had never heard Helmer speak in -public—it was practically his first public address, and she trembled a -little for him. - -The Sielenburgers had not taken their departure after all. It had -happened that the sleeping-coupé tickets procured were meant for the -following day and consequently the involuntarily prolonged sojourn -allowed them the opportunity of hearing Helmer’s address. The Countess -Schollendorf was gazing about through her opera-glass. Suddenly she -cried out with a startled expression: “For God’s sake, there in the -third sofa in front—isn’t that the Archduke...?” - -“Sh!” interrupted the sportsman. “Don’t utter the name aloud; it is -certainly he, but he does not want to be recognized.” - -“Still, perhaps we are mistaken,” said the Countess; “our imperial -family has not much taste for such American extravagances.” - -“But really, it _is_ the Archduke; I cannot be mistaken, for he bought a -horse of me once and closed the bargain himself. Besides, he is said to -be a very enlightened prince.” - -Coriolan flared up: “What do you call ‘enlightened’? That is a -suspicious word.... Thank God, our court is nothing of the sort.” - -The countess had now directed her glass toward the platform. “Franka is -not sitting up there this time ... but that Helmer! Who would have -thought that I should have seen Eduard’s secretary in this way again! It -is said that he is going to give an address. I am curious.” - -“I am not,” muttered the cousin. - -“You are an unendurable man, Coriolan,” remarked Albertine suavely. - -“We need not be vexed, my worthy friends,” observed Baron Malhof at this -moment, taking a part in the conversation, after having vainly looked -round to find Franka. “One must never be vexed; certainly not while on a -pleasure journey. One ought thankfully to get from it all the possible -satisfaction that may be offered. Domestic cares, local prejudices, have -been left far behind. One drinks in all the delight of the ‘now,’ of the -unfamiliar, of the unusual. And especially here in this festal hall, -where such a brilliant company is assembled, where it smells so -fragrant,—I would wager that the ventilator distributes atomized -rosewater,—where sweet music is playing, where beautiful women are to be -seen, and where one can stare at two living rulers of great States, and -where there is to be great oratory in various tongues of Babel about the -‘lofty flights of human thought.’... If this is not a place of -amusement, what is it, I’d like to know? Do you see, in my opinion life -is a storehouse, filled full of joyance and annoyance, and all wisdom -consists in getting out of that storehouse all possible joy and avoiding -everything that can possibly annoy....” - -A stir went through the audience. The President of the French Republic -and the King of Italy had entered their box. Mr. Toker had ushered them -in, and he remained for a few moments standing in the back of the box in -order, as could be plainly seen, to give his illustrious guests some -information about his likewise illustrious house-guests; for his eyes, -as well as those of the two rulers, moved, during the conversation, from -one to another of the selected circle filling the background of the -platform. - -Now Mr. Toker went back to his place and gave the signal to begin. - -For the introduction, a second performance was given of the -Rose-Quintette which on the first day had afforded such enjoyment; again -it exerted the same charm and aroused the whole audience to the utmost -enthusiasm. The King from the land of music set the example, and the -applause throughout the auditorium rose into a perfect storm. Vera’s -eyes were filled with tears of delight. The Rose-Quintette was a genuine -affront to that ultra-modern school of those who pose as scorners of -melody; they did not, indeed, hiss, but they exchanged significant -glances and bitterly ironical smiles. - -After the applause had subsided, the great Italian tragédienne came -forth and recited Hero’s lament over the body of Leander, a -soul-stirring monologue from the first work of a Roman poet as yet -comparatively unknown. It was a decidedly long while after she had -finished, before the applause began: people were too deeply moved to -express their gratification instantly. Genuine tears trembled on the -eyelashes of the great artist, and in the audience many cheeks were wet. -Who has never stood by the bier of one dearly beloved, and has not gazed -down into an abyss of grief so profound that the heart is penetrated by -the terror of eternity? - -Now followed one of those ten-minute pauses during which the auditorium -changed into a salon. Some of the guests left their places; calls were -paid; there was promenading up and down the lobbies. The master of the -house stepped into the box where sat the two exalted rulers in order to -explain to them the meaning of the intermission; they in turn went out -on the platform and allowed the various celebrities to be presented to -them. The King greeted the actress as an old acquaintance, shook hands -with her, and talked with her for some time. Then he greeted his other -fellow-countryman, the great inventor, with equal heartiness. To be -proud of one’s king and to feel for him a genuine affection, is a -widespread sentiment in monarchical countries; but there is also very -frequently in royal personages a feeling of pride and of gratitude for -those who as artists or otherwise wear the crown of glory of their -country, and this feeling might be called kings’ loyalty. For centuries -monarchs have showed this loyalty in the form of gratitude to the heads -of the great noble families, especially for the leaders of armed forces -on land and sea; but of late they have begun to realize that the fame of -a country is borne over wider reaches of space and time by the names of -its intellectual great men than by the names of its aristocrats and -soldiers. - -The ringing of a bell announced the resumption of the exercises, and an -expectant silence reigned throughout the hall. John Toker and Chlodwig -Helmer stepped out to the speaker’s desk. The American began in -English:— - -“Your Majesty! Mr. President! Ladies and gentlemen! I have the pleasure -of introducing to you as the speaker of the evening—I might almost say -the speaker of the week—Herr Helmer, of Vienna, the author of the poem -‘Schwingen’ which quickly became famous. Not that I have any desire to -place his deserts higher than those of the other illustrious members of -the Rose Order—but because the theme which he is about to treat is the -fundamental theme on which our whole plan of action is arranged: the -conquest of the upper regions—Herr Helmer, you have the floor.” - -And he stepped back to his place in the circle. As he took his seat some -one whispered to him: “That was not very democratic of you, Mr. Toker, -when in your introduction you apostrophized the two rulers with their -titles!” - -“Please do not confuse democracy with incivility, as is so often done. -It is exactly what they are—rulers. To every one his due.” - -The fault-finder remarked still further: “The two rulers certainly do -not understand German and they will be mightily bored with Herr Helmer’s -address.” - -“But they do understand German, as I happen to know. Besides, the French -translation of the gist of the address has been printed and is in their -hands.” - -In the mean time Helmer had taken his place at one side of the desk, -letting his hand rest on it and surveying the audience. First of all, he -looked for Franka. At last he caught sight of her in the corner of her -box. He gave her a mute greeting. At that instant Prince Victor Adolph -and General Orell entered her box. Franka shook hands with them, but put -her finger to her lips, as a sign that they must not speak; then she -turned toward the platform. Her heart was beating wildly. She was as -deeply agitated as on the evening of her own début. Victor Adolph took -his seat behind her. - -Helmer made a slight inclination toward the two rulers; then turned to -the audience:— - -“Fellow-men! The meaning of this address requires an explanation: I am -conscious that I am speaking not merely to the small assembly of -prominent men and women in this place, but to the world outside. I know -that what I am about to say—whether well or ill—will be repeated in -type, on human lips, on phonographs, in scientific reviews, in popular -assemblies, in the homes of workingmen, in university halls, in all the -nooks and corners of the whole civilized world; that it is therefore -rightfully addressed to my fellow-men; and what is more: the object -itself touches every one personally, no matter to what rank or what land -he may belong. Fellow-men, this matter concerns you all alike. _Tua res -agitur_—Humanity! One of the greatest hours of your destiny has struck!” - -Franka drew a breath of relief. The speaker’s voice rang out clear and -full, and at the same time a restrained fire could be felt under his -words, spoken so calmly and with such assurance. Verily, it was the same -fire as had inspired her, when he delivered into her hands the shield -and spear—_Hojo-to-ho_—the cry of the Valkyrie! - -She turned round to Victor Adolph, who must have understood the mute -question in her eyes—“He speaks well, doesn’t he?”—for he nodded -affirmatively. - -In a somewhat altered tone Helmer went on:— - -“‘Alas! corporeal pinions do not so easily correspond to the pinions of -the Intellect,’ are the words in Goethe’s ‘Faust.’... The opposite is -true. Corporeal pinions we already have, but the spiritual wings have -not as yet been found to correspond. Obedient to the will of man, the -flying ship soars a thousand metres into the air, but the will itself -remains in the depths. High and free, in beautiful premeditated curves, -the artfully constructed pinions drive through the pure ether, while far -below, enchained, remains the intellect groveling in the dust. By a -marvel of technique, the gates into a new age have been boldly forced, -but nobody seems to perceive this. The marvel is now only a few years -old. During the first week or ten days, tumultuous jubilation, universal -astonishment:—‘At last the millennial dream comes true!’ ‘How vast is -human genius!’ But after a short while everything goes on as before. No -trace of the new age. One further means of locomotion, a new article of -commerce, a fresh sport and opportunity for laying wagers, one more -childish toy, one weapon more, that is all! - -“All respect for so-called human genius, but as far as concerns human -imagination—it displays a pitiful feebleness. It ventures a few leaps -into the air—a metre or two, like the first flying-machines—models as -yet unprovided with motors; but forthwith it sinks back again to the -ground. A door into the future forced open: whether from behind it, a -golden radiance is to stream, or gloomy clouds are to threaten, people -do not see—they have no desire to see. They shrug their shoulders, put -on an air of sound common sense, and deny all discussion of future -possibilities and revolutions. The matter is left to specialists, and no -one any longer takes any interest in it, save as it may affect one’s -private business or one’s private satisfaction. - -“Above all, the military authorities always take possession of every new -invention and it gets specialized into merely technical limits. Any -possibility of its use other than for future wars is not taken into -consideration, and hence, the more universal points of view, the -indirect consequences, are put aside and only the nearest-lying -applications are discussed. - -“Shortly before the invention of dirigible airships and flying-machines, -armies employed captive balloons and balloons driven before the wind; -even then there were aeronautic troops—of course nothing more natural -than that these should be entrusted as suitable experts with the -introduction and maneuvering of the new air-vehicles. This was regarded -in military circles as nothing revolutionary; it was simply a small -improvement which might be made useful in connection with the existent -system of tactics—that is to say, for instance, in reconnaissances. As a -weapon also, the thing might come into use, and experiments were, -indeed, made in this direction; but that was relegated to the dim future -and would never attain any great effective significance, for its -certainty of aim was of the very slightest, its radius of efficacy very -limited, and by means of perpendicular guns the attack might be easily -warded off:—such was the style of appeasement with which the suggestion -of adding fleets of airships to the other effective forces was set forth -and any wider outlook into the possibilities of the new acquisition was -not admitted by government circles. Whenever practical necessity -demanded such experiments in actual warfare, why, then they might be -made, but it was useless to indulge in fanciful dreams of the future.... -And the specialists continued to occupy themselves with present-day -tasks, without abandoning the old ways;—as to the future, let it take -care of itself. - -“At bottom, indeed, it is not the business of various callings, making -use of any new discovery, to investigate it in all its aspects; nay, -this would even be too much to expect from the inventors themselves. -Does the aviator understand very much about the scope of his invention? -Occasionally and exceptionally he does, of course—but not because he is -an aviator. As such he is a technician or an acrobat. Or, if he wants to -make a show of ideal objects, he may be a patriot, and offers his -apparatus to the ministry of war. He has no inkling of the fact that he -has opened the way into a new epoch in which new conditions of life are -to produce a new humanity. - -“What these new conditions of life may be, many, indeed, of our -clear-sighted contemporaries have already recognized, but it has not as -yet penetrated into the common consciousness. On this subject I should -like to say something to my fellow-men from the far-echoing tribune on -which I stand, and especially to tell them about the mighty alternative -that has so suddenly been brought before our race.” - -Chlodwig paused. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts for a moment or -two. This interval the public utilized for observations and the exchange -of views. - -Coriolan muttered: “Some such rubbish as that about flying I remember he -put forth when he was at the Sielenburg.” - -Countess Adele came to the speaker’s defense: “He talks right fluently.” - -“I am curious, indeed,” said Prince Victor Adolph to Franka. “Have you -any idea what he is aiming at?” - -“Certainly, I know Herr Helmer’s line of thought. He has been my -instructor.” - -“Your instructor?... You have a high opinion of him?” - -“Indeed I have.” - -The group to which the two Russian widows belonged had not been -listening very attentively. Annette Felsen and Minister Rinotti were -sitting close together and a scarf falling from Annette’s shoulder had -arranged itself so conveniently that under its protection their hands -could touch. Perhaps this electric contact was too powerful to allow any -other to connect the speaker and these two. M. de la Rochère understood -not a word of German, and so any criticism that he might be moved to -utter concerned only externalities; but it was a favorable criticism:— - -“The man has a fine voice and such intelligent hands! Have you noticed -how he pressed the ends of his fingers on the top of the table,—as -firmly and vibratingly as if he were table-tipping,—while with his other -hand he made such eloquent and gracefully sweeping gestures that one -might actually follow the drift of his discourse:—he was evidently -speaking of the air in which he drew curves as elegant as those of -Latham or Blériot.” - -Helmer now proceeded with his address:— - -“The making of fire by artificial means and the invention of speech were -the first stages in our progress from animal to man. Articulate man -belongs, at all events, to another species than did his dumb ancestor. -What kind of a species flying man is to represent, only the scientists -of the coming centuries will be able to decide. To-day I would merely -call your attention to the conditions of social life, in which we can, -even now, predict a change. There is, for example, the whole protective -system of society, which might be designated as the ‘lateral -system,’—for walls, hedges, gratings, shut us off on the sides,—but this -now has lost its advantage. Only the places that are covered with a roof -are entirely protected, yet we cannot build roofs over all gardens and -all stretches of land. There are no more islands either, if by that term -we designate a territory isolated by its coast-defenses and by its -fleet. Since the day when Blériot sailed over the British Channel, Great -Britain ceased to be an island. Like the concept ‘island,’ by means of -aviation will also disappear the custom-house of the frontier ... aye, -the frontiers themselves. - -“Let us pause for a moment and consider that totality of things which -bears the name of war: What modification will be likely to ensue in this -domain by these new acquisitions? The militarists are quickly ready with -their answer: ‘War will simply be carried on simultaneously in the air.’ -But the business is not so simple as on the earth and on the water. All -the methods of war, we might say, all the rules of the game, are based -on the following hypothesis: the two opponents go forth against each -other to the borders, try to cross them, try especially to prevent the -enemy from crossing them; try to win and to command positions; to march, -if possible, against the capital, and if they succeed, then they dictate -terms of peace. In order to make this game more difficult, obstacles are -erected in time of peace, forts are built along the borders and the soil -is undermined; the farther one penetrates into the country, more and -more fortifications are found, which must be captured one after the -other by the invading army; and, moreover, every village, every -farmstead where the belligerents might meet, is made into a stronghold. -The game can be supported by sea, when the fleets approach the coast, -which must be made more difficult to reach by means of fortifications -and submarine mines. - -“And now comes the third military arm—that of aviation. For this, the -crossing of boundaries is child’s play. Fortifications would no longer -be impediments; not merely that they could be blown up by a couple of -pyroxin bombs;—they would be simply a negligible quantity. These -artificial constructions, with their trenches and walls and casements, -have also ceased to be defenses, just as the islands have ceased to be -islands. Headquarters, hitherto the safest places, most protected by -distance, places where the maps of the country used to be studied, and -serving as the center from which the troops were directed, are now the -most exposed; for an enemy’s flyer would make it his chief object to -fling his explosives down on that particular spot. All the most modern -methods of fighting, the concealment behind high-piled earthworks, are -henceforth without object; the approach of great army corps offers these -air-skirmishers the most favorable circle of trajectory to be -imagined—but who will there be to endure this consciousness in addition -to all the other hardships of the march? Still more vulnerable to attack -from above would be every munition-train. - -“The cavalry, which in modern warfare is employed only for -recognizances, has become a mere article of luxury through the dirigible -balloon, the usefulness of which in the task of spying out the country -has been from the very beginning appreciated as its most brilliant -service; but the cavalry, when the regiments ride in close order, would -offer a fine mark for the troops of the air. But while all the attempts -would be made on the ground with the object of penetrating the hostile -country, the aerial troops of both armies would already have flown over -both capital cities and would be turning them into smoking heaps of -ruins. Likewise, a dirigible could in the dead of night glide over the -fleet of twenty-five-thousand-ton ships arrayed in battle order, and -annihilate it. High in boundless, unobstructed space there is no -definite theater of war, no commanding position; consequently the -decision of the campaign cannot be transferred into the air. Aerial -machines of murder will not march up side by side in line, but each -single one will work from up above downward; up above, there is nothing -to conquer and nothing to annihilate. - -“If now, under these newly created conditions, nations go forth to fight -each other as before, it will be just as if two chessplayers should sit -down at the board and should say: ‘We will allow the old rules to -prevail; the pawn shall be just as valueless; the Knight shall make his -jumps; Rook and Queen shall preserve their great power; the King shall -have the privilege of “castling”; but we will add a new rule: either of -us may throw something on the board from above and upset all the -chessmen!’ A beautiful game—that would be—which would fail to please the -chessplayers!” - -He then added, as if in a parenthesis: “The chessmen fail to be pleased -anyhow.” - -Some sounds of dissatisfaction were heard in the auditorium. The -military men present were expressing their disagreement. “If only -civilians would not talk about things of which they haven’t the faintest -notion,” remarked a retired colonel to his neighbor. - -General Orell had demurred the most indignantly: “All nonsense!” - -“I don’t find it so,” replied Victor Adolph. - -But no great time was allowed for exchanging opinions, for Helmer now -proceeded:— - -“The opponents of war—and such I find to-day even in the most -influential social positions”—he bowed toward the royal box—“the -opponents of war might congratulate themselves that such a -war-destroying element has entered into the very apparatus of war; but -the chances are that the experiment would bring about a catastrophe -involving not the destruction of war, but rather the destruction of -civilization. - -“In a book, which is the work of a prophet and of a forewarner, H. G. -Wells, whose powerful imagination never leaves the solid ground of -logic, there is a description of what must become of the present world -if once the rain of fire should pour down upon it from out the clouds. -Aye, ‘the conquest of the air’—we have little cause for rejoicing over -it—conceals the most awful perils. - -“And one thing more: What will henceforth be the sense of the term -‘sentinel’? Hitherto, those that were threatened could feel a certain -degree of security, by surrounding themselves with a bodyguard; by -keeping all the doors and entrances to their palaces and gardens closely -watched, night and day; by stationing armed hedges on the right and -left, when they went out into the streets; or, if they traveled, by -protecting the railway track through its whole length by lanes of -soldiers and police; but what will all this avail against assassination -from above? - -“And altogether: the execution of every act of hatred or revenge will be -greatly facilitated and its discovery made more difficult; no police -stations can be erected in the upper air, no police dogs could follow -the trail; what yesterday was called ‘flight’—then a very difficult and -dangerous undertaking—can to-day be taken as a pleasure trip! - -“How could one find any traces in the heights above? The aeronautic -Sherlock Holmes will offer a new and as yet unexploited subject for -detective stories. A winged _gendarmerie_ will first have to be -organized; but a great obstacle stands in the way of patrolling space: -not only is there the stretch from north to south and from east to west, -but also zenithward. The desired point will no longer be crossed only by -two lines, but by three. All this must be faced. If really man is a wolf -to his fellowman and is bound to remain so, then our enemy, the wolf, by -means of our new achievements has got a new and tremendous accretion of -strength.” - -Helmer made a brief pause. A slight feeling of uneasiness had taken -possession of his audience.... What the man was predicting did not seem -so rosy! But Helmer passed his hand over his forehead, as if he would -drive away a swarm of annoying visions, and then he went on in a louder -voice:— - -“I do not stand here as a prophet of misfortune. I see the evil, but I -also see the cure for it. If new conditions of life are brought forward, -if the world around us undergoes changes, then our mode of life must be -made to conform to them; for what does not conform goes to destruction. -Nature herself accomplishes this process of adaptation by dooming to -destruction those who are incapable of conforming. At the present stage -of human development, however, we do not need to leave this process to -Nature alone: we have reason, we have knowledge, and we have experience: -we ourselves can take the work of transformation into our own hands! -Nature works slowly and works relentlessly; we can hasten her work, and -we can avoid those harsh and pitiless means which Nature employs to bend -us under the law of adaptation. So now, we are capable of recognizing -the new conditions, the new needs, that grow out of the human conquest -of the air. We can estimate what of the old contrivances, of the old -forms of thinking, cannot be brought over to the new dawning epoch; we -can mentally construct the conditions and principles which might prevail -in the altered circumstances; we can strive and we can bring it about, -that the necessary conformation shall take place without its involving -the method of Nature—‘The destruction of whatever resists.’ - -“And the formula of the needed action is provided for us by the new -acquisition itself: We are already able physically to soar up into the -heights—we must do the same thing morally. We must learn to hold -dominion over the realm of High Thinking. - -“For thousands of years mankind has been dreaming of the possibility of -learning to fly. It has so often tried in vain that at last it came to -the conclusion that it was impossible. And yet it has been proved to be -possible. - -“In the same way, and almost even more timidly, mankind has behaved -toward those dreams which attributed to human souls the capacity of -applying to the intercourse of nations the moral injunctions that have -been laid down as law for the behavior of individuals, and of renouncing -violence in all its forms. This has been called Utopia.... ‘Man is -essentially a wild beast’—they say: ‘only by force can he be tamed, only -by force can he be held under restraint, and force has always conducted -the fate of nations.’ Well, now, the most utopian of all utopian -possibilities—flying—has become a reality. Technical art has won this -victory. And must the spirit alone remain forever enchained in the -wallowing depths of hatred and brutality? Certainly not! - -“Just as soon as human genius shall put forth the same determination, -the same assurance, as it has put forth in technical work, for the -attainment of moral ideals, it will be likewise victorious. All the -technical inventions have had the one end and aim of making life more -beautiful, more enjoyable, easier,—in a word, of distributing happiness. -But what genuine happiness is possible if all intellectual activities -are ever maintained for the purpose of rendering life more unendurable -and of destroying it? With his physical capacities, man must grow -psychically, else will he become more and more dangerous and wretched -instead of growing greater and happier. Now that he has subdued steam -and electricity and radium and the Hertzian waves, in order to make -existence more comfortable for him, the time has come that he should, -with equal confidence and equally firm resolution, try to make -serviceable those other forces which also are inherent in the -world,—good will, love, reason,—and which alone are fit to endow life -with beauty and value.” - -A murmur of approbation stirred through the hall. Helmer advanced a step -toward the front of the platform and stretched out both his hands:— - -“Aye, Good Will! I have uttered there the holiest concept in the -universe. For the upward flights of the soul, this is the only motor -power—‘Good Will’! If aeronautics and aviation had not discovered the -lightest possible motor, they would still have been Utopias. And all -endeavors to solve social problems, to bring security and comfort to -human society, all attempts to rouse men’s souls into higher spheres, -have necessarily failed, for the precise reason that Good Will, -Goodness—called weakness by the narrow-minded—has not been made the -moving power for the conduct of social and political life. Of course, -there are still other splendid qualities, and these are universally -upheld as the basis of character and as the motives of noble behavior: -courage, determination, intellect, enthusiasm, strength. But there is -only one criterion for their inward value and outward valuation—they are -worthy and blessed only when they are used in the service of Good Will. -The qualities I have named strengthen our activity—they do not ennoble -it. There is courage shown in wickedness, determination in cruelty, -intellect in malignity, enthusiasm in hatred, and strength in -arbitrariness. And in fact, these elicit our admiration, because in the -brilliancy of the qualification the abomination of the subject is -forgotten. - -“I repeat, I am not standing here as a prophet of misfortune; but -neither do I stand here as a preacher of virtue. The need is not to -educate to goodness, to create and awaken feelings of benevolence; only -the goodness which is alive among us men needs to be put into action. -There is a field, a vast field embracing almost all social relations, -and at its very entrance stands this placard of warning: ‘Goodness and -Benevolence are forbidden entrance to this field’—the name of which is: -‘Politics.’ - -“This placard, put up by folly and stupidity, must be torn down. There -must be room even on this, especially on this, field for humanity’s -Highest Thinking. - -“Some two thousand years ago a great, good, wise spirit put into words a -similar High Thought: ‘Love one another.’ But in vain. And some -thousands of years ago an Icarus had attempted to fly up to the sun—but -in vain. And yet to-day we can fly. And likewise that other lofty realm -is to be won—in which not our bodies but our souls are to soar! - -“Woe to us if we delay much longer to make ready for this new conquest. -Persecution, slavery, and destruction must no longer be regarded as -legitimate means for the attainment of social and political ends. For -the possibilities of annihilation have grown to be too powerful. There -is no other way of self-protection against the flying man than by making -him a brother. We are now at the parting of the ways; we must go up -higher—up to the highest heights with intellect and heart—_sursum -corda_—or we shall sink into nameless abysses. We must make clear to -ourselves whither lead the two paths that lie open before us—for the -choice is ours.” - -Here again Helmer made a brief pause; then he stepped to the very edge -of the platform:— - -“Now one further word about thoughts that soar.... The evil does not -consist in the fact that men are incapable of cherishing High Thoughts, -but in this:—that they have a low opinion of man. Their so-called -Worldly Wisdom culminates in their declaring with a scornful face that -it is impossible to set up noble and elevated ideals as acting rules for -life. He who scents out low and selfish motives back of every really -noble word and deed believes that he is wise and keen, that his mind is -peculiarly shrewd. Such men are always trying to see through things—they -have not learned to look up. Confidence in the good awakens the good. -The masses will follow up to that height to which a real leader will -venture to lead them; they will never go farther than the leader thinks -them capable of going. We have arrived at an epoch when, in spite of the -law of gravity, the body can soar to unknown heights. It is beyond the -power of the imagination to foresee to what spiritual heights we and our -children may attain, when once, with resolution and earnestness, with -confidence and enthusiasm, we endeavor to bring about the conquest of -High Thinking. The great philosopher who was filled with equal awe -before the splendor of the starry heavens and before the Categorical -Imperative of his own conscience, Immanuel Kant, anticipated the motto -of this Rose-Week when he said—and with this quotation I bring my -address to a close:—‘Men cannot think highly enough of man.’” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - A COZY SUPPER - - -Franka drew a deep breath. She had listened with the deepest interest to -every word spoken by Helmer, and now, when he had concluded, she turned -around for the first time and became again aware of the prince’s -presence. - -“Well, what do you say, Your Highness?” - -Victor Adolph had risen to his feet. His features expressed inward -emotion. “The man stirred me.—Did you listen, Orell?” - -The general respectfully answered: “At your service, Your Royal -Highness.” - -“Truly, did you follow it all?” - -The question was put in a very skeptical tone. - -“Not all. Much was too nebulous. Man’s a visionary—a dreamer ... no -ground under his feet.” - -“Well, yes,” remarked Victor Adolph, smiling; “in this epoch of -aviation, this thing ‘the ground under the feet,’ seems to lose its -importance.” - -Several of Toker’s guests at this juncture entered Franka’s box.... The -prince took his departure:—“I want to look up the speaker. I must shake -hands with him.” - -Helmer had in the mean time been conducted by Toker into the royal loge. -Not without emotion did he make his bow before the two powerful rulers. -If by any chance his message had worked upon their wills, this might -turn into action pregnant with results. Power is no illusion. A -democratic spirit may regret that any one person should exercise it and -may desire to change the fact, but no democrat need be blind to the -importance of this fact as long as it exists. Abundant opportunities for -doing things are placed in the hands of rulers, even when they are no -longer autocrats, so that they might easily shorten the distance that -separates idea and accomplishment. - -Naturally, Helmer had no expectation that the King and the President -would say to him: “Dear Sir, what you have said to-day will give the -direction to our future activities.”—But at all events, they had -listened to him and listened with sufficient interest to express the -desire now to talk with him. Who could tell if this might not expedite -the fulfillment of what he had wanted to suggest to his auditors? - -The trivial ceremony of the presentation, of the friendly hand-shaking, -the rather unmeaning questions and answers, went off in the conventional -manner; yet Helmer did not prize the opportunity any the less: the seed -of his work might have fallen on fruitful soil. After three minutes the -whole affair was at an end and Helmer was stepping down into the hall. -He intended to seek out Franka whose presence attracted him, but he was -instantly surrounded by a crowd of people congratulating him on his -discourse or asking him what he meant by this or that passage in it. - -A gentleman approached him and introduced himself:—“My name is Henri -Juillot,” said he in French; “I am an engineer and I built a dirigible -airship myself.” - -“‘La Patrie’?” asked Helmer, interested. He had heard of the triumphant -flight of this military airship and also of the accident which had -happened to it later. - -“You know about it?” exclaimed the Frenchman. “Then you also know the -unfortunate ‘Patrie’ was driven out of its course by a storm and was -never seen again.” - -“Yes, I know; Count Zeppelin did not have much better luck at -Echterdingen. But I hardly think, M. Juillot, that you will be very well -satisfied with my conclusions. You designated your dirigible for war, -and I protested most urgently against the exploitation of the splendid -invention for such a purpose.” - -“I believe that our views are not so very divergent,” replied the -Frenchman. “My opinion is: the airship is going to give the death-blow -to war.” - -“And _you_ say this? You, who worked in the service of the ministry of -war?” - -“Why not? Activity in a given calling does not necessarily shut out the -view of the intellectual horizon, does it?” - -“It ought not to do so—yet it generally does.” - -The engineer stood up. “I will not detain you longer now, and indeed -here comes some one looking for you.” - -Helmer seized his hand, and shook it heartily. “I thank you for your -words, M. Juillot. I hope we shall meet again.” - -“Ah, at last you are discovered. I was looking for you as for a needle -in a haystack!” It was Prince Victor Adolph who came up to him. - -Helmer bowed. - -“I felt I must speak to you,” continued the prince. “I wanted to tell -you how deeply your address stirred me. A light seemed to rise before -me, and I cannot tell you in merely a couple of words what I see in this -light.” - -Helmer expressed his thanks for these friendly words of recognition. He, -indeed, cherished a high opinion of the prince, and therefore his praise -gave him a real pleasure. And yet he was overmastered by a gnawing -bitterness as he stood facing the handsome, manly, young prince. No -self-deception availed any more; he was obliged to confess: the horrible -tormenting passion so allied to envy—jealousy—began to poison his mind. -How he had thought himself superior to such a feeling ... he had even -encouraged Franka to bestow her love on this splendid young man, and had -taken pleasure in his own magnanimity ... and now this evil passion had -him in its clutches! There was only one cure for it: absence! The week -at Lucerne was nearing its end and then their ways would diverge—his and -Franka’s. Besides, he had his great solace: art, labor. For some time -the idea of a new drama had been gradually dawning in his mind, So, as -soon as he should be back, he would immediately gird himself to the task -of writing it. As if in line with this idea, the prince now asked:— - -“Have you conceived the idea of writing any new poem. It will be -difficult for you to surpass ‘Schwingen’!” - -“I am going to write a drama, Your Royal Highness. I have the notion -that one can speak in that way more directly, more persuasively to one’s -contemporaries than in an epic.” - -“Scarcely more persuasively than you spoke to-day. I thank you once more -for the vistas which you opened up before me. Auf wiedersehen, Herr -Helmer!” He shook Helmer’s hand and left him. - -A minute later Helmer found Franka. She hastened up to him. - -“Ah, Brother Chlodwig, at last,” she cried. - -“_I_ say ‘at last.’ I had such a longing to see you. You must tell -me....” - -“Oh, I have ever so much to say to you,” she interrupted. “It almost -seems like that evening when I talked with you the first time—do you -remember? Or that other evening when you outlined the plan for my -career. Let us do as we did then.... We will have supper, we three ... -and talk, talk.... If we have supper now with the whole Rose Order, we -cannot say half what we have to say. Do you consent?” - -“Do I! That will be splendid!” - -“Very good, then. So Eleonore and I will go up to our apartment and get -the festive supper ready. Follow us in a quarter of an hour.” - -When Helmer rejoined the ladies, the table was already set. Plates with -all kinds of cold meat, patties, lobsters, chicken, strawberries and -sweets, were arrayed on it, and at one side in a silver bucket a bottle -of champagne. Moreover, on a small table, drawn close, and presided over -by Frau Eleonore, a singing tea-kettle. - -Franka, who had changed her evening gown for a soft white kimono, came -forward to meet her guest with outstretched hand: “Welcome, Brother -Chlodwig! Now we will enjoy a pleasant cozy hour. After all the great -and overpowering things that surround one here, one really yearns for -something domestic, calm, and comfortable.” - -Chlodwig kissed her hand: “You make me happy, Franka. You could not have -put a prettier crown on this day than this kind of invitation. And I -mean to do honor to all these appetizing things—the fact is that, in the -anxiety of preparing my address, I have scarcely eaten anything all day, -and I am as hungry as a bear.” - -“I am glad of that. So let us sit down. Let the feast begin!” - -“Even the stage-setting is festive,” remarked Helmer. “I never saw your -rooms lighted in the evening before.... This subdued rose-light is -magical in its effect.” - -“Oh,” sighed Franka, “it is impossible here to escape from the magical. -Don’t you find also that it brings with it some homesickness for the -simple and commonplace?... Please, take a bit of this patty.” - -Helmer helped himself. “Yes, there seems to be a sort of pendulum law in -our wishes.” - -“Then, what would be the equilibrium? To be without a wish? But let us -not philosophize—let us chat. We should have so much serious talk that I -would rather not begin. Your address—I have not as yet said a word about -it to you, let me shake hands with you ... it was fine! That address -with its wide outlook,—it would lead to such deeply serious discussion -on a hundred abstract things!” - -“Then we will not talk about it,” assented Helmer. - -“But please fill the glasses,” Franka held out her champagne-cup. “If we -are not going to talk about your lecture, let us drink to the hope that -what you suggested to our fellow-men may be fulfilled.” - -They touched glasses. - -“May also what your teaching promises be fulfilled, Franka Garlett,” -said Helmer; “will you not join us, Frau von Rockhaus ... may I fill -your glass?” - -Frau Eleonore shook her head: “Thank you, I only drink tea ... and to -tell you frankly, these toasts are too vague. Let our contemporaries and -those who come after us look after their own good. Won’t you folks also -think a little about yourselves? I am ready to drain my cup of tea to -the nail-test if the toast shall be: ‘Three cheers to Franka,’ or ‘Three -cheers to Helmer,’ or even a cheer or two to Eleonore.... And please -understand, the fate of the last-named lady affects me more than that of -unborn generations!” - -“Good!” cried Franka; “agreed. Health to the three of us!—a ninefold -cheer!” - -The glasses clinked. Then Franka leaned her head back on the cushion of -the easy-chair and, smiling, closed her eyes. “At this moment I do have -an attack of selfishness.... I feel all thrilled with a longing for ... -for....” - -“Happiness?” suggested Helmer. - -“That expresses too much. Only a deep, heart-filling joy. But not a -lonely joy ... I want your company, dear friends.” So saying, she -stretched out her hands to left and right, and laid them on the arms of -her two table companions. - -Helmer felt this touch like an electric shock. What filled his heart was -not an unquestioning, unwishing joy; rather it was a dream-happiness -which flashed through him like lightning. But what this flash of -lightning revealed was a burning sand waste of hopeless yearning. More -clearly than the impulse of jealousy which he had recently experienced, -this instantaneous burst of glowing tenderness showed him that he loved, -as passionately as man ever loved. It was fortunate that the companion’s -presence checked his impulse, for he was strongly tempted to fling -himself at Franka’s feet and confess to her what made him so deeply -unhappy. But he controlled himself. Franka must not be aware of the -tempest that raged in his soul. He would not spoil the calm joy to which -she had referred; yet he could not help knowing the source of this -joy—could it be that on the very day she had made up her mind as to her -future? Had the prince declared himself? But if that was the case, why -was _he_ not sitting by her side instead of Brother Chlodwig? Well, -possibly she had not considered that proper. She had only invited the -harmless “Brother” in order to confide in him her joy, in order that he -might be let into the secret of the change of her destiny, he who had -hitherto exerted such a powerful influence on her life, he who had been -the guide in her vocation, the master builder of her fame. These -thoughts had not occupied ten seconds. He took her hand which still lay -on his arm and held it firmly with a tender pressure. - -“Tell me the ground of your joy, dearest Franka ... let us speak of your -future.” - -Franka had not changed her position. Her eyes were still closed, her -head leaning back: “No, no, nothing of the future now. I wanted to -anchor my joyous feeling in the present, that only safe anchorage.... -But I am willing”—she sat erect and withdrew her hand—“I am willing ... -let us talk of my future plans. I decided day before yesterday to -withdraw from publicity. That address is to be my last.” - -“Is that his wish?” - -“Whose wish?... Oh, I see what you mean.... You are mistaken. If what -you imagine had come about, then, of course, the lecture trips would -have had to cease, but it has not come about.” - -“It will,” interrupted Frau Eleonore, “if you mean by this mysterious -reference the threatened proposal of the violet prince.” - -“Even in that case it is a question how I should deal with it,” retorted -Franka. - -A stone fell from Chlodwig’s heart.... Now he, too, felt flooded with -the joy of the present. - -“My decision,” pursued Franka, “is quite independent of these -eventualities. It takes its rise from entirely new views, intuitions, -and wishes which have come to me here during this wonderful week.” - -“And you are going to give up your activity?” - -“Traveling and public speaking, yes. I see before me other possibilities -of work. And, besides, did you not advise pretty much the same thing -after my last address?” - -“Did I?” - -“Yes, and you were right.... I feel it.” - -“What are you going to do, then, Franka? What are your plans—your plan -independent of the case ‘Victor Adolph’?” - -“I am going to ... but it is not so entirely clear to me....” - -“So, then the case ‘Victor Adolph’ is not altogether out of question!” - -Franka laughed: “How persistent you are. You seem very anxious for me to -have that chance. You were the first to call my attention to it. -Moreover, I can imagine how eagerly you must think of this affair and -desire it. Don’t you? You mean that if I should win power over the heart -and actions of one of the great ones of the earth, I might then exert an -influence, might be useful to my—to our ideals?” - -“I might believe that—but wish it?” He shook his head. “Oh, let’s not -talk about that possibility—it is much nicer not to do so.” - -“Let us talk about yourself, then. You are certainly no ‘case,’ but the -theme interests me.” - -“It interests me, too,—especially if you treat it.” - -“Do you know, I have made the acquaintance of an entirely new Helmer -to-day.... Through your address ... I followed it all—all its political -and social and high-thinking parts, but one thing especially impressed -me: You are a good man.” - -“That compliment does not always sound flattering.” - -“Oh, but you must have recognized from my tone how I mean it. Moreover, -the way in which you spoke about Good Will, about Goodness, the rank -that you assigned to that quality as a motor power for all spiritual -elevation,—you see, I understood you,—proves to me that you would prize -no compliment higher than this. Or would you have preferred that I had -said ‘a clever man’? Applied to a world-renowned poet—that would have -been tautology. And that term carries no warmth with it. When you say to -any one, ‘You are good,’ that is equivalent to saying, ‘I thank you.’ It -is as if you would cradle your head on his heart and say, ‘Oh, here—here -is safety.’” - -“Franka!” - -Both were silent for a while, looking into each other’s eyes. What is -that substance called which often goes bombarding back and forth between -the steady eyes of a man and of a woman?—It has not as yet found its -Madame Curie. - -Frau von Rockhaus broke the spell by asking Helmer what the two rulers -had conversed with him about. He informed her. And now the conversation -turned for a while on the events of the evening. He also told them about -his meeting with the engineer Juillot. Franka on her part gave an -amusing description of her aunt’s last call. Now gayly, now seriously, -the talk went from one subject to another and the time flew. Franka -sprang up as the clock struck twelve. - -“Midnight already! Now we must say goodnight.” - -Helmer had also risen to his feet. “Forgive me for staying so -outrageously long ... but it has been so lovely!” - -“Yes, it has been lovely,” assented Franka. - -Words of thanks and of farewell followed. Still talking, Franka took a -few steps by Helmer’s side toward the door. Then suddenly she stepped on -something soft, that lay on the floor—a little piece of orange-peel—and -slipped. She would have fallen, had not Helmer caught her with his -strong arm. Then only Franka uttered a little cry. - -“Did you hurt yourself?” - -“No, no; it was nothing.” And she released herself. “Adieu.” - -After Helmer had again shaken hands with the two ladies and departed, -Franka remained standing for some little time on the spot, lost in -dreams. - -“Well, what is it? What are you thinking about?” asked Frau Rockhaus. - -Franka shook her head and made no answer. She was thinking of the bar of -the blind. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - SUNDRY CONVERSATIONS - - -The next afternoon many scattered groups were sitting again in the hall -of the Grand Hotel, and in the majority of them the conversation turned -on Chlodwig Helmer’s address. Translations of it into French, English, -and Italian were lying about on the tables. Some of the hotel guests -held in their hands Helmer’s book “Schwingen.” The works of all the -authors present in the Toker palace were not only to be found in the -Lucerne bookshops, but were for sale also in the various hotels. Many -visitors who had heard the poet’s address, the day before, had now got -the work that had made his name famous and were eagerly turning its -pages. - -In one corner sat Bruning, Malhof, and Regenburg chatting over their -wine and cigars. They were discussing their fellow-countryman, Helmer. - -“He was a schoolmate of mine,” Bruning was saying. “Not at all a -remarkable scholar: weak in mathematics; hardly up in the ancient -languages. His teachers, however, were easy on him—he was the son of a -cabinet minister.” - -The well-known sportsman exclaimed in astonishment: “Oh, you don’t say -so? I had supposed he used to be a secretary or the like with a -count....” - -“Quite right, he was ... at one time. His parents died early; his -property was gone; he did not stick to his career as government clerk; -poetizing had got into his blood; he was always in the clouds, even on -the school form ... and then he accepted a position which afforded him -leisure for writing. After he left the count’s house, he devoted himself -entirely to the art of poetry. I should have expected a more brilliant -career for him.” - -“Pardon me,” said Malhof, “isn’t that a rather brilliant career—being a -celebrated poet?” - -Bruning shrugged his shoulders: “What is it to be a celebrated poet in -our country, while one is alive? Did you ever meet one at court? Is a -street ever named after one? And one was never known to get rich like a -successful operetta composer or a brewer. My friend Helmer ought to make -a good match. I had schemed one for him long ago. But he is so horribly -unpractical—you could see that from his address yesterday. These -sentimental impossibilities! Lack of tact—talks there before a public -audience composed of kings, statesmen, people of the world, as if it -were a gathering of Socialists.” - -“Yes,” said the sportsman in confirmation, “I noticed that he attacked -military institutions with especial virulence—like a real Red. He -apparently thinks it is not right for aeronautics and aviation to be -used for military purposes. That is unpatriotic. I long ago enlisted in -the volunteer automobile corps and I should not hesitate to place my -flying-machine at the disposal of the Ministry of War. But, by Jove! -that was a marvelous exhibition of flying the day before yesterday. I -must get a pair of folding wings like those!” - -“To return to Helmer,” said Malhof. “A good deal that he said was rather -striking ... things that I had never thought of before, though I am an -old man of wide experience; things, the possibility and desirability of -which I must admit.” - -“Really!” cried Bruning. “Such changes—that will turn things upside -down—do they seem desirable to you?” - -“Desirable for the next generation, not for our own, for people do not -like to be disturbed in their quiet and in their habits. We do not only -say, ‘After us the deluge’; we also say, ‘After us the millennium’; for -in order to bring it about, we should have to make quite too -inconvenient efforts ... let our great-grandchildren attain a golden -age; we ourselves are quite comfortable in our present circumstances; we -want to go on enjoying the present order of things and educate our boys -to do the same.” - -Bruning nodded his head in assent: “_We_ say this—but our friend -Regenburg is right: the Socialists think otherwise; they are not -contented with the circumstances; they want revolution; therefore such -cloud-storming addresses are not merely unpractical; they are dangerous, -and we must be on our guard against them.” - -“’Tis not necessary,” replied Malhof. “Active measures against them -would only profit the revolutionists. All their dreaming, speechmaking, -dissertations remain inoperative through the vast passive resistance -which they buck up against—a wholly unconscious resistance, for it is -combined of indifference and absolute ignorance. If one of them speaks -in an assembly and the assembly applauds, then he believes that he has -conquered a comprehending world of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, not -only does the world of his contemporaries remain unmoved, but even among -the assembled audience the majority, when they have left the hall, -scarcely remember what arguments have been put before them. How little -interest men feel in universal questions! Most people do not even know -that there are circumstances that might be changed. Everything that -exists in the social and political line, they take for granted, like the -weather and the seasons. It is easy enough to hear about those matters, -but to take an active part in them, that is another thing. People have -so many private interests which are wholly absorbing—their career, their -business, their trade, their passions, their family cares, their bitter -days and their joyous festivals—there is no room for speculations and -Utopias and revolutions. Existing institutions have their competent -directors regularly appointed to look after their management, or, in -case of necessity, to bring about reform; but we do not have to get -mixed up in it ... everything revolutionary is so inconvenient; it -disturbs every kind of activity—Heaven protect us from it! You see, that -is the state of mind of the compact masses. And so let the world -reformers talk themselves hoarse. When they are talked out, it is -burnt-out fireworks—nothing more!” - -“Do you reckon yourself also among the ‘compact masses,’ Herr von -Malhof?” asked Bruning. - -“Certainly I do. Never in my life have I taken any interest in the -so-called ‘questions.’ I have had far too much to do in making my -existence as pleasant and enjoyable as possible. For me, the wisdom of -life consists in making the little square metre of existence which we -possess as comfortable as we can, in trying to embellish it, without at -the same time staring at the thousand-mile stretches that lie beyond. -And then, one thing more, my good friend: to battle against -thousand-year-old institutions with addresses and volumes of poems, as -your honored friend does, is like scratching away Chimborazo with a -nail-file. As far as I could make out, Herr Helmer strikes at the -belt-line of militarism with his aeronautic arguments—I could not repeat -them—the things rebound from my memory like dry-peas from a wall. Just -look at our military establishment at home. How does it stand there? -Isn’t it just like a Chimborazo? All that glory, that prestige, that -power—there is only one other power comparable to it—the Church. That is -the reason the two stand by each other so firmly. And really are not all -who have their habitations at the foot of these Chimborazos perfectly -contented? Haven’t they planted there all their joy, their ambition, -their fame, their ideas of virtue?... What is the good, then, of -frightening them out of their comfortable security under the pretext -that other and more comfortable conditions are to be created for coming -generations? No, your young friend must not cherish any illusions; -believe me, he will not....” - -“Why do you say all this to me?” interrupted Bruning; “I am entirely of -your opinion and have never pretended to Helmer that I shared his -illusions. I know the world better than he does.... ‘One cannot think -highly enough of man’!—such an idea as that can only be expressed by a -philosopher far removed from reality, and repeated by a cloud-sailing -poet. Well, and what do you say, Regenburg?” - -“I—what do I say?—About what?” - -“Haven’t you been listening?” - -“Oh, yes—I—well, I am afraid that through all these new -sports,—especially in the air,—the horses will entirely die out.” - -“Even Pegasuses?” suggested Malhof, laughing. - - -In another niche sat Romeo Rinotti and Gaston de la Rochère in a -colloquy. They, too, were discussing the yesterday’s address. The -Frenchman held the translation of Helmer’s speech in his hand. He looked -disgusted. - -“What do you say to it? Have you read it through?” asked Rinotti. - -“I have just glanced over it, my dear Marquis. And that has sufficed to -make me angry enough.” He flung the pamphlet on the table. “German poets -should confine themselves to singing about forget-me-nots, but not -deliver discourses about things they do not understand. What does this -one know about the action of airships in the war to come? Or perhaps he -wants to spoil the pleasure of other nations in building air-fleets, -because Germany—thanks to her Zeppelin—has gone so far ahead.... In -return our single flyers are far more numerous and much better -perfected. Besides, we have really made a beginning with the -dirigibles ... might far more easily reach the forefront again, if this -miserable pestilential republic would only look out better for the -national defense.” - -Rinotti laughed: “So then you are an arch-royalist? But you are really -doing injustice to your present régime; just see how in the last few -years your expenditure for the army and the fleet has mounted up.” - -“Oh, stuff; that is only hypocrisy ... they are afraid of arousing the -anger of genuine patriots, and consequently they do not venture to hold -back the funds as much as they would like to; but at the same time they -haven’t the slightest intention of standing up boldly for the honor of -France.” - -“You mean the _Revanche_. Certainly, only a very few of your -fellow-countrymen wish for that any longer.” - -“That is just the trouble. Magnanimous feelings, bold ideas are dying -out.... No, not quite so bad as that ... they still live, but they are -suppressed, kept down ... and what can you expect as long as a party is -in power sacrilegious enough to lay violent hands on the Church? Thence -only one thing can rescue our poor land: to restore the monarchy.” - -“Are you a leader of _les Camelots du Roy?_” asked Rinotti. - -“No; the methods of these young men are too coarse for me—they even -shock the claimants themselves. Yet I am undisturbed: _Dieu protège la -France_. In one way or another Providence will restore to us our old -rights. If not a king, perhaps a dictator, or a great soldier will -come.... We have already had one or two attempts to that end: Boulanger, -Marchand ... the right one will sometime appear, and if he should -succeed in winning back the beloved provinces, even if he should merely -wave the colors in order to hasten to the frontier, then,—then all -Frenchmen would follow him with wild enthusiasm.” - -Rinotti shook his head. “Do you believe so? I opine that a war which -your nationalists themselves should start would no longer be popular in -the country. The storm must break out somewhere else: Germany would have -to be entangled in war with England or Russia; then France might go to -their help and in the natural course of events the _Revanche_ might come -of itself; even the régime might be changed. Why, even a defeat might -result in overturning the republic and the new king might have the -chance of restoring the conditions that you desire.” - -“That would be fine! But how can one look forward to such events when -everywhere these anti-military doctrines are making their way not only -in Socialist congresses, but even in public entertainments, like these -here—and in presence of the heads of States!” - -“Words, words!” exclaimed Rinotti scornfully: “borne away by the wind. -And even if the wind should carry away a few fruitful seeds, when will -they sprout?—In the far, distant future. Meantime, however, deeds come -to the front ... deeds of the present, which are the fruits of seeds -scattered in the past. The old hatred, the old distrust, the long -cumulated threats: all that must rage itself out first. And the entire -world of to-day is prepared for it; school has trained for it, the -masses are drilled for it; the instruments are ready. And how easily do -these latent forces break out into acute manifestation! What is preached -by good people, but bad politicians,—à la Helmer,—arouses no fanaticism, -however conciliatory, however reasonable it may sound. Can one ever -bring conciliation to fever-heat or reason to a flame? Ah, believe me, -only the violent instincts drive the machinery called history. And those -who are elected to make history need nothing else but force, and again -force, in order to keep the machine going in the direction which they -want. And the general conception ‘force’ splits into separate qualities: -unbending will, unscrupulousness, inflexibility, formidableness—these -are the attributes of the great statesman. But only in his political -activity; as a private citizen he must at the same time be amiable, -yielding, full of good humor, tender to his family, polite to his -subordinates—in general, what is called ‘un charmeur.’ In addition he -must have genius; and this, too, is needed: he must have luck!” - -La Rochère had accompanied Rinotti’s utterance with nods of -satisfaction. “You are a wise statesman!” he exclaimed; and leaning over -to look the marchese in the eye, he asked in a lower tone of voice: -“Tell me, is there likelihood of war breaking out anywhere? Do you -perchance know anything about it?” - -Rinotti bit his lips: “I know nothing, and if I did, I should not tell.” - -Prince Victor Adolph was sitting on his balcony, reading over and over a -letter which he had received that morning from home. Its writer was his -oldest brother, the crown prince, who informed him, under the seal of -confidence, that an old project, which had once before been broached and -then dropped, had come to the front again and was on the point of -accomplishment. The point was, that Victor Adolph was to be made regent -of a border province which was aspiring to independence. By this -appointment, the province would immediately find its desires for -autonomy fulfilled. This was a tempting outlook: anything rather than -the empty show of military service so detestable to him. In this -position, opportunity would be afforded him of working up, of carrying -out plans the mighty outlines of which hovered before his mind. A joyous -feeling of expectation stirred the young man’s soul. The future, the -future—it lay open before him; and he would fill it with progressive -ideas, with progressive deeds, with “soaring thoughts” ... He dwelt on -these words. - -Then an idea suggested itself to him. He went to a writing-table, dashed -off a few lines on a sheet of paper, and rang. - -“Take this immediately to the Rose-Palace,” he ordered the servant who -responded to his summons. The note was addressed to Chlodwig Helmer, and -contained an invitation to Mr. Helmer to call on the prince in the -course of the afternoon, if he had time. - -A quarter of an hour later, Chlodwig sent in his name. The prince was in -his salon alone. He started forward to meet his visitor. - -Helmer bowed:— - -“Your Royal Highness summoned me....” - -Victor Adolph offered him his hand: “Thank you for fulfilling my wish so -promptly. Yesterday evening we had no opportunity, and I was so desirous -of hearing a good deal more on the subject of your address. Let us sit -down.... Here, please. A cigarette?” He held out his gold -cigarette-case. - -Chlodwig thanked him and took one. The prince also offered him a light -and then kindled his own. - -“You see, Herr Helmer,” he pursued, “what you said yesterday evening -moved me tremendously. Partly, because you gave utterance to ideas which -have been for a long time floating indefinitely in my mind, and partly -because you opened up before me entirely new perspectives.” - -“I am delighted to hear such a thing, Your Highness. Tell me what was -familiar to you and what was new?” - -“There is, for example, ... good Heavens, I really don’t know where to -begin.... I should like to have a lesson in things which you did not -speak about. I will ask you: If you were a king, what would you do to -carry out the lofty flight of your ideals?” - -“If I were a king,” repeated Chlodwig thoughtfully. “Many a man has -imagined to himself that contingency. _Si j’étais roi_ is the title of -an opera.—If I were a king, then I should have lived in other -conditions, should have had another kind of education, inherited other -instincts.... The love of soldiering would be inherent in my blood—the -first king was a victorious soldier;—the concept ‘Majesty,’ mounting -from the humbly bowing masses, would have risen to my head, stinging and -bewitching me, like the bubbling spirits rising in champagne-cups.... My -breast would be swelled with the consciousness of power. I should -probably not let it be noticed, and I should take pains to seem affable -and natural. I should be well aware that my power was to a certain -degree limited in modern, constitutional, and enlightened times, and, -therefore, I should instinctively fear what threatens it still more: -revolutionary ideas and activities; and likewise should instinctively -prize all that protected it: my faithful nobles, my loyal army; on the -whole, the conservative spirit. I should simply know nothing of the -struggles and problems and aims of the progressive spirit. ‘Liberal,’ in -the court-jargon, is synonymous with ‘suspicious,’ and ‘radical’; -signifying a will-power, which goes to the very root of things, is -synonymous with ‘criminal.’ I should not have had much experience of the -sorrows of the poor and wretched; that would be to me as remote and -natural as a pool in a morass or the débris of a quarry. My consolation -would be that the poor people would still hope for compensation beyond -the grave, and in order to strengthen them in this hope, I should set -them an example of piety—should perhaps actually be pious, through the -necessity slumbering in every better soul of being occasionally humble. -As I am one who tries to do right, and should be the same if I were a -king, I should fulfill scrupulously my really difficult duties. I should -work with zeal and industry. For recreation and pleasure, I should go -hunting. Indeed, this sport would involve a certain amount of ambition, -for I should be well aware of the respectful interest with which the -world would chronicle every successful shot of my rifle and be ready to -erect a monument in memory of my thousandth stag. I should....” - -“Stop!” cried the prince; “you are unfair!” - -“Quite possibly. I have been generalizing, and in doing so, one cannot -be fair. And above all, Your Royal Highness, I regret having somewhat -failed in due tact. I should not have spoken to a king’s son as I have. -But because I know that you are quite different from the others....” - -“But you are also unfair to those others, Herr Helmer. Don’t you believe -that the spirit of the age also makes its way through the seams of -palaces and throne-rooms? That ‘lofty thinking’ and free thinking are -also carried on under crowns? Look at those little German courts the -princes of which cherish a cult for art or promote the investigations -and activities of such men as, for example, Ernst Haeckel! And this -‘lofty thought’ for which you seem especially enthusiastic, ‘universal -peace’: don’t you see that the very emperor who at his first accession -to the throne was expected by the world to hanker after military -laurels, has for long decades done everything he could to avoid war?” - -“I recognize that,” answered Helmer; “but the question means more than -merely not waging war; it means putting down war.” - -“I call your attention to this: I just remarked the Emperor has done -what he could. The power and will of a great ruler stand behind mighty -barriers and walls. His court, his army, his environment, his whole -inheritance of traditional principles and the institutions which he is -placed there to preserve—all these things combine together to hamper the -accomplishment of his aspirations. The portrait that you have just -painted of a king does not apply any longer to our contemporary rulers -in their inmost reality—yet their environment combines to make them -such. Now, see here, my dear poet, you were complaining that they knew -nothing of the sorrows of the people; you are right: the classes are too -widely separated; they know nothing of each other. So it is with the -princes: those that do not live in association with them know but little -about them and form false notions; they conceive them to be of the -‘demigod’ or ‘Serenissimus’ type, but in truth they are exactly like -other men; differing from one another, good and bad, stupid and clever, -insignificant and talented. But they do have one actual advantage: they -control more power and influence than ordinary mortals, and for that -reason it would be a good thing if princes were to come forward as -champions of the highest aspirations of the time.” - -“But suppose—my objection may, perhaps, again sound somewhat -tactless—but suppose these aspirations include what Kant once laid down -as a postulate—that monarchies are doomed to make way for a republican -régime....” - -“This will not be accomplished overnight.” - -“No; and then I grant you that the question is not whether the régime -ought to change. Governmental forms are, after all, only forms—the -content is the important thing. What must change, what must grow, is the -spirit, and certainly in all strata. The general level of all mankind -must rise. I myself should not like to see the control of government put -into the hands of the masses as they are to-day.” - -The prince made a somewhat impatient gesture. “I beg of you, Herr -Helmer, let us not deal in generalities. Yesterday, I heard a -wonderfully beautiful litany of them proceed from your lips; now I -should like something positive, concrete. For that reason, I put my -question to you: What would you _do_ if you were a king? _Do_—_work -at_—that is the gist of the matter. And a king can do things, as long as -Kant’s wish is not as yet fulfilled—because he has much power; not -unlimited power, of course. Put to yourself this case: that you—you -yourself, no one else, you with all your experiences, your knowledge, -your poetic accomplishment—were suddenly made a powerful king.... One -can imagine one’s self in another position—I know it from experience. I -have often asked myself, if I were a common soldier, if I were a poor -proletarian, how should I feel, what should I try to do in order to win -a little happiness and freedom for myself and my fellows, or to give -vent to my wrath over the unfairness under which we sigh and drudge.... -Perhaps you do not know, Helmer, that I take a passionate interest in -social problems; that often, just as others sneak into gambling-hells or -other places of forbidden pleasure, I have slipped into assemblies where -the Socialists....” - -“I know it, Your Highness,” interrupted Helmer. - -The prince had been speaking with animated voice and his cheeks were -flushed. Now he seized Chlodwig’s hand. “So then, tell me! You who are a -poet and therefore something of a prophet; you who would raise goodness -to the level of a motive force for political action,—tell me, how would -you help the people?” - -“What people? Mine? Is it impossible to help one people alone. In our -day of universal international intercourse and trade, every country is -dependent on every other. One nation cannot by itself be rich, happy, -and independent. The nations are not hermits; they form a community. In -my kingdom, could I put down capitalism, could I do away with war, if -others threatened me with it; if I took down my own tariff walls, could -I break through the limitations of the others? There is no individual -happiness—‘_reciprocally_’—‘_coöperatively_’—‘_mutually_’: those are the -adverbs without which no blissful verb can be conjugated.” - -“Then what would you do?” - -“Seek to make alliances with my fellow-royalties. I should—yet I have no -perfected plan of action in my mind, Prince. Only one thing is quite -clear: the mechanicians have won over a new element which for many -thousands of years they never dared hope to enter into. There is also a -spiritual, a moral upper ocean into which hitherto no one has ventured -to steer the so-called ship of State. I cherish the faith that by this -time among the potentates, one—the Zeppelin—is born and will work and -accomplish, and dare obstinately, confidently, prophetically, in spite -of all doubts, all resistance; and will let his ship mount up into those -heights of light.... Pardon me, Prince, I have one great fault into -which I am always falling: speaking far too much in metaphors.” - -“Pardonable in a poet.” - -“But you wished to hear something concrete, positive,—in this respect I -have served you ill.” - -“No; your Zeppelin picture gives me a quite correct orientation. First -one must gather from the light of reason, even if no experience answers -for it, that a thing is feasible; then one must will and dare. The -individual manipulations will come into play later.” - -Helmer gazed at the prince. A warm wave of liking for him arose in his -heart; then instantly this same heart seemed to contract as if under a -cold pressure. The thought of Franka ... how natural it would be that -she should love that man.... - -As if Victor Adolph had read the poet’s thoughts, he asked: “You are an -old acquaintance of Fräulein Garlett’s, are you not?” - -Chlodwig gave a start. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.” - -“The lady interests me very much. Can you tell me anything of her -story?” - -Helmer told him what he knew: the secluded childhood and youth with her -father who was in slender circumstances; her worship of that father; the -summons to the grandfather’s home; the fabulous inheritance; and then -her passionate desire to accomplish some great work, to offer herself up -in the service of her fellow-men—as if an atonement for the unearned -wealth; then her career and its results. - -“A remarkable fortune!” exclaimed Victor Adolph. “You were her teacher?” - -“I? Her teacher?” - -“Yes, she told me so herself.” - -“She meant that when she was as yet uncertain how she might find the -great thing which she dreamed of doing, I gave her some advice.” - -“And has not this pretty young woman had any love-affair in the course -of her life?” - -“I know of none.” - -“Is she so cold? She must have had many suitors.” - -“Indeed, she has. She has been much sought after and has refused many an -offer.” - -“And you yourself, Herr Helmer, in all this giving of advice, has your -heart remained without a wound?” - -“Your Highness ... I....” - -“Well, well; it was an indiscreet question. Pray don’t feel obliged to -answer it.” - -The valet brought the afternoon mail on a silver salver, and at the same -time announced that His Excellency the adjutant to the King of Italy -desired to see His Highness. Chlodwig arose and took his departure. - -The prince shook hands with him: “Auf wiedersehen. We will have another -talk—not on indiscreet questions, but about dirigible ships of State.” - -“Papa, am I interrupting you?” - -Gwendoline stood at the door of Toker’s room. - -“Of course, you interrupt me, for I am never unoccupied. But come in, -Gwen; it will do me good to have you divert me a little from all kinds -of melancholy things.” - -The young girl stepped nearer. “How is that? You are in trouble! Does -not everything go according to your wish in this rose-magic of which you -are yourself the great conjurer?” - -“Here everything is fairly satisfactory; but outside, in the wide -world!” And he indicated a heap of newspapers and letters lying before -him on the table. - -While glancing through these messages from the outside world, John Toker -had been spending a couple of uncomfortable hours. Very bad tidings had -come. Not only the alarmist predictions which emanate from those parties -that always have on tap announcements of an unavoidable war with this, -that, or the other neighboring State; but also positive proofs that in -various places, in circles that had the necessary power in their hands, -the intention prevailed to deliver the blow. In more than one center of -discord, little flames were rising and might easily break out into a -destructive conflagration. The press was not lacking in writers who were -working with poker and bellows for this end so desirable to them for -many reasons. Fortunately there were not lacking, among either rulers or -statesmen, those who were using their best endeavors to stamp out the -dangerous embers; who hesitated about drawing the sword even when they -were provoked—but the decision finally lies, after all, with the -aggressive and not with the opposing portion. - -Not only from the papers, but also from private sources, Toker had -received the intimation that dangerous dissensions were likely to break -out. He was in friendly relationship with powerful circles in various -countries, and he got wind of much that was going on behind the scenes -in politics. Thus it had been conveyed to him that day that one country, -whose chief ruler was thoroughly opposed to war, had a large military -party working with all its might, in order that an insignificant -question at issue should be made the cause for an ultimatum. This party -desired to march right in. It found that the moment was favorable. The -victory would be easily won; glory and laurels might be obtained; -internal dangers fermenting might thus be obviated; and in spite of the -opposition of the monarch they were plotting to aggravate the friction -in order that the “marching in” might be plausible. - -However, that is not the proper word: what the war-lovers in question -had in mind was not “marching in,” but “flying in.” In all countries the -air-fleets had attained considerable proportions, but just at this time -this particular State had made a remarkable advance. Moreover, a new -invention in the domain of aviation had been recently made and was kept -a great secret, and a new explosive had been introduced. With this, the -enemy could be annihilated and the world confounded. The admiral of the -air-fleet was all on fire to enrich the military history of the world -with a hitherto unheard-of battle and victory. John A. Toker felt a -quite peculiar horror at this form of the modern, ultra-modern art of -war; not only because he expected the most terrible destruction from it; -but also his æsthetic and moral feelings were revolted by seeing hell -carried even into the regions of the skies. - -Still other catastrophes were looming on the horizon: bread riots; -economic crises; terrorism from below by assassination and incendiarism; -terrorism from above by executions; ... and for those who looked far -ahead, a general break-up; civilization buried under ruins. Can this be -the end and goal of mankind’s lofty aspirations? - -Toker felt like one who has brought a wonderfully beautiful garden, -situated at the foot of a mountain, to a high state of cultivation, and -suddenly notices that the mountain has begun to smoke. - -“Every comparison limps” is a correct expression: the lameness in this -figure is, that the destruction streaming from the fiery depths of the -volcano is the work of incomprehensible, uncontrollable powers of -nature, while in these eruptions treasured as “historical,” men -themselves have fabricated the lava, and, thanks to their crater-deep -idiocy, use it for their own destruction. - -Yet not all the news that had been brought to Toker’s notice, and lay -there in a great pile, was bad: there were also some encouraging items. -If one attentively listens in every quarter, one can hear the subdued -regular rumble of the great loom, where the genius of Progress is -weaving stitch by stitch the web of Unity which is bound ultimately to -bring together the whole civilized world. Toker’s alarm grew out of the -fact that the all-reigning spirit of growth is often interrupted and set -back by the spirit of destruction, which by fits and starts exercises -its harmful calling and in some places undoes what seems on the fairest -path of development. - -“Well, Gwen, what amusing thing have you to tell me?” - -“Amusing? I wanted a serious talk with you, papa.” - -“You—and serious! But really you look quite solemn. Has anything -happened?” - -Gwendoline made several attempts to speak, and then paused again; she -was seeking for the right words and could not find them. - -“Courage, Gwen! Have you some wish?” - -“More than that, papa;—it is a resolution.” - -“Oho! that sounds really serious. Perhaps you want to marry one of my -Rose-Knights. We should have to think that over very gravely.” - -“You are making sport of me, papa. I believe you consider me a very -stupid girl, and, indeed, I know I am. Up till now I have not taken any -interest in all the great things which you are working for. But in these -last few days my eyes have been opened.” - -“Have you been listening to all the things that my great guests have -said, and did you understand them?” - -“No, not all. I believed, as you yourself seem to believe, that those -things are too high for me; that I could not understand them; that they -had nothing to do with me. Only when the personal appeal was made to me, -did I prick up my ears.” - -Mr. Toker raised his head in astonishment. “An appeal made to you -personally? How so? by whom?” - -“By Franka Garlett: ‘Ye young maidens, listen to me!’ she said. I -listened to her and....” - -“Well ... and...?” urged Toker eagerly. - -Gwendoline, who had been standing behind the writing-table, now sat -down, as she was frequently wont to do, on the arm of Toker’s chair. She -put her arm around her father’s neck and said: “You have called all -these prominent people here, haven’t you, in order that their words, -which you permit to be so freely uttered, may have a wide audience, may -arouse to convictions and to deeds; in a word, may make proselytes....” - -“Yes, that is my intention.” - -“Well, I believe it will succeed. I know of one enthusiastic proselyte -already made by Miss Garlett.” - -“You, my dear?” - -“Yes, I. Let me have a share in your work; initiate me! I want to learn -to have the same kind of ideas. I don’t believe that I lack the ability. -Yesterday, I listened very attentively to the address of that -‘Schwingen’ poet. (And between us, if I am not mistaken, he is in love -with Miss Garlett.) I could not understand all that he said, but still I -understood enough to get some new light; the question is to make men, -that is to say, their souls, fly up into higher regions.” - -Quite correct, thought Toker; but that their souls may fly high, the -main thing is to help their bodies out of wretchedness, depravity, -hunger, and squalor—the masses must be able to free themselves. Aloud he -said: “Just see, how my little girl has profited from the teachings of -my speakers! Gwen, this gratifies me, indeed! Go on with your thinking -and your learning.” - -“But I should like also _to do_ something, papa, and you must tell me -what!” - -“Just at this moment I can’t tell you what you will be capable of doing. -First let what has been sowed in your little head during these last two -days ripen. I have my doubts about such sudden conversions. Nine chances -out of ten, such seeds will be blown away again.” - -Gwendoline sprang to her feet: “Have you so little faith in me?” she -exclaimed reproachfully. “No wonder, though, for up till now I have been -such a superficial good-for-nothing thing.” - -“You have been a child, and that was all that was expected of you; there -is no reason why you should not remain such for a while yet. Destinies -and tasks are unequally distributed. Not all men can give themselves -exclusively to caring for the weal of others; there must be some, also, -who are carelessly happy themselves—especially in life’s Maytime.” - -The morning after the supper with Helmer, Franka awoke with a dull -headache. She had not slept well, but restlessly, feverishly, anxiously. -She could not have told what had filled her mind with worry, with -anticipation, with uncertainty; for her thoughts had led her on rather -confused meanderings. Now as she got up, she felt that there was a -burden on her mind, and she explained this state of things by the deluge -of impressions that had swept over her, and by the fact that her -resolution to renounce her career as a lecturer had left her facing an -uncertain and aimless future.... And yet at the same time this -resolution was agreeable to her, for in that career she no longer saw -before her any shining goal, any prize of victory to satisfy her -longing. - -Aye, it was longing which lurked in the background of her unrest. -Longing? For what? Franka was no unsophisticated child, and she put the -question to herself, without unconscious bashfulness: “Is my hour come? -Does Nature demand her rights? Do I wish to live, to love?” - -Her thoughts turned on the two young men who for several days had filled -her imagination and her dreams. But neither of them had declared -himself. The prince was perhaps too proud, the poet too modest, to want -to marry her. And to which of them should she give the preference? To -this question her heart gave a whispered answer, but so softly whispered -that it was not decisive. - -After her cold morning bath and her hot morning tea, she felt refreshed -and somewhat calmer. She put on a simple street-toilette and left her -room. She felt the need of getting out into free nature, and she bent -her steps toward the neighboring wood. Purposely she refrained from -inviting Frau Eleonore to accompany her, for she wanted to be alone with -her thoughts, to take counsel of her own heart. - -She wanted to ask herself what now were her wishes, her hopes, her -purposes.—Was the resolution definitely fixed to retire from a public -career? Was it justified? She had taken up as her task “To accomplish -something great”: was this task accomplished? And was it not presumption -to suppose that she was capable of accomplishing anything “great”? To do -that, one must be great one’s self, and that she certainly was not. -During this Rose-Week, when she had met with so many brilliant men and -women of genius, she had fallen very low in her own estimation. - -What was she with her rather superficial fluency in comparison with all -these mighty artists, thinkers, poets, inventors? Could she only tell -them all how insignificant she felt in comparison with them! Just as -there are attacks of pride and ambition, so Franka now had an attack of -the deepest humility, a strong yearning for seclusion:—it was one of -those hours when one wishes one’s Ego dismounted from its too prominent -pedestal, whereon it has been standing in far too haughty isolation; -when one would like to compel it into a kneeling and leaning attitude of -humbleness before a dearer “Thou”.... - -Through the grove breathed a delicious fragrance of warm resin and moist -moss. Buried in her thoughts, Franka had been wandering for an hour -hither and thither through the forest, and had reached a spot where a -wooden seat was built around an ancient oak tree. She was rather tired, -and so sat down on the seat, winding her arm around the trunk and -leaning her forehead on it: thus she rested. The air was hot and full of -the hum of insects. An agreeable weariness closed Franka’s eyelids; yet -she was not asleep, only sinking into a comfortable half-doze, -comparable to the feeling that plants may have under the caress of the -sunbeams or the fanning of gentle breezes. Her breath, the beating of -her heart and the song of the forest, the whispering of the tree-tops, -melted together into one harmonious rhythm. It was the undefined, softly -soothing delight of mere existence—nothing more. And yet with it all was -mingled something new, something never before experienced by her, -something that did not seem to belong wholly to the present, but -throbbed as if at the coming of a future fulfillment— - -A voice startled her out of this twilight of the soul: “Is that you, -Signorina Garlett?” - -It was the great Italian tragédienne who was out also for a lonely -morning walk. - -Franka sprang up. - -“Don’t move. I will sit down with you for a few minutes. It is very -charming here, so quiet and peaceful. I have disturbed you. You were -deep in dreams ... probably you were thinking about your lover.” - -“I have no lover.” - -“That is incredible—only you will not confide in me. But you might, -carina. I am so much older than you are; I have tasted so fully of the -joys and sorrows of life, and I know well that we women—if we are -genuine women—experience all our pleasure and all our grief only through -love ... everything else is nothing. Our art, our beauty, our social or -domestic virtues—all that is only the shell, is only the tabernacle; the -true sanctuary is our burning and bleeding heart.” - -“So speaks one from the South,” replied Franka. “The rest of us are -colder. My heart truly—up to the present time—has neither burned nor -bled for any man. I do not take into account any passing little -acceleration of its throbbing. My work, my duties, have completely -occupied me—up to now....” - -“What has been your special work?” - -“Making girls over into thinking beings.” - -“Thinking—not feeling?” - -“The one does not exclude the other. Men, too, feel and love; at the -same time it is their duty to think—not that they always do so—I must -agree to that. You, great artist that you are, who have penetrated into -the depths of poetry, would surely be the last person to forbid women -thinking.” - -“No, I do not; but I insist that they love. And ultimately, they all -obey—even the women of the North. In the Northern poets especially I -have found the most fundamental love-problems. However, madamigella -Franka, you just said the words ‘up to now’ in a tone which makes me -suspect that perhaps the coldness which you boast of is already -beginning to melt.” - -Franka’s cheeks glowed: “How you read people’s souls, maestra!” - -The other smiled sweetly, and seized Franka’s hand. “So it must come,” -said she, “once in every life. But,” she added in another tone, “shan’t -we return? Don’t you hear distant thunder?” - -In fact a low growling of thunder was heard, repeated two or three -times; and the air was sultry. Franka got up. - -“Very well, let us go. We shall have time enough to get under shelter. -You see, it is the same way with my love ... far and low I seem to hear -the premonition of what may prove to be a heart-storm. It has not as yet -arrived, but it is coming and it will be welcome: I shall not flee from -it, as we are now trying to escape from the threatening shower.” - -By this time a few scattering drops were falling. The two women hastened -their steps. Suddenly the Italian actress said:— - -“Its coming has been noticed.” - -“The coming of what? A quarter of an hour ago, the sky was perfectly -blue.” - -“I am speaking of your love-affair, dearest.” - -Franka, surprised, lifted her head. “What do you mean?” - -“Well—the handsome German prince.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - SCENES OF BEAUTY AND OF LOVE - - -This evening the exercises were devoted to the concept Beauty. They were -to begin with a concert; but not a concert of tones, rather of colors -and lines—charm for the eye, intoxication for the sense of sight—the -delight of seeing, carried to ecstasy. - -The hall was only faintly lighted. Toker and his guests were not as -usual on the platform; a white screen surrounded by a golden frame -filled the background. Franka sat in the box that she had occupied on -the evening of Helmer’s address. But this time Helmer was with her. He -had escorted her into the hall, having been, as usual, seated next her -at the dinner-table. The two had not had much opportunity to talk -together, as some one opposite had engaged Chlodwig in an urgent -conversation, and Franka, on her side, was taken possession of by -Gwendoline—who had also accompanied them to the box. In the background -sat Frau von Rockhaus and Malhof. - -Franka was scanning the hall with her opera-glass. - -“Are you looking for some one?” asked Helmer; “he is sitting there in -the lower tier at the right.” - -Franka’s glass followed the indicated direction, and she caught sight of -Victor Adolph, who had turned round and was likewise searching the -audience with his lorgnette. The two glasses met and the prince bowed. -Franka answered the greeting and blushed, as Helmer saw only too well. - -“I had a long talk with the prince to-day,” he said; “he is a fine -fellow.” - -“Who—the German king’s son?” broke in Gwendoline; “he pleases me, too, -immensely; and if he were not so evidently taken with our Miss Garlett, -I should have a good flirtation with him.” - -On the signal for beginning the programme—three loud peals on a bell—a -tall figure of a woman in the costume of a Greek Muse stepped forward -and began to speak:— - - Still through the hall the golden bell-tone vibrates low! - List to it, for you will not hear it ringing - A second time to-day. - A simple word which I have still to say - Of prelude or of prologue—call it as you may— - And then the silence show! - - For voiceless colors will be together singing - And lines in exquisite harmonies will melt away. - Nor flute nor drum, viola, violin; - The instruments are called but Blue and Gray - And Red and Green and Yellow, bringing in - The rainbow’s soundless orchestra. - - This week for Lofty Thinking held its pious rites; - Free spirits have stood forth to plead for Goodness and for Duty, - So let us also worship Beauty. - Let Wonder bear us in its spellbound flights; - Since those alone that have the power to marvel - Possess the power of mounting to the heights. - -The speaker retired and the hall was completely darkened. All the more -brilliantly gleamed the great white screen on the platform. A -half-minute of intense expectation passed. - -Franka turned to Helmer: “Do you know what is coming?” - -“Yes, Mr. Toker gave me an inkling of it. Pictures of landscapes more -magnificent than were ever seen before—except in reality: nature-framed. -The impression is said to be magical.” - -Suddenly, the white screen was transformed into a view of a primitive -tropical forest—a remarkably picturesque piece: in the foreground, at -the right and at the left, two gigantic gnarly trees, whose branches -arched upward until they met, forming a kind of triumphal gateway; on -the ground and toward the back a luxuriant growth of unknown plants and -flowers. - -“That reminds me of Ernst Haeckel’s marvelous travel pictures,” remarked -Helmer. - -It was evidently photographed from nature and in the most brilliant -colors. Polychrome photography had, to be sure, been invented some years -before, but here, for the first time, perfect fidelity to nature had -been attained: not only the succulent green of the foliage, and the -velvet brilliancy of the moss, but something like real light, such as -prevails in the primeval forest, streaming with emerald tints through -the tree-tops and flinging bronze reflections on the brown trunks. Dark -and pale lilac blossoms glowed in the maze of vines, resting here and -there in dense masses among the branches; here and there hanging down -like the sprays of weeping willows; then again, springing from the soil, -tall-stemmed, crimson-red flowers, with broad, wonderfully serrated -calyxes—a flora quite unknown in our temperate zone. - -The prologue had not promised too much: no painter could depict such a -scene: it was nature itself. To near-sighted eyes, the picture may have -presented a more or less confused maze of colors; but through the -opera-glass every leaf and every stalk could be seen in its sharp -outlines, and if one looked with a high-powered glass one might have -detected the gauzy wings of some brilliant-colored butterfly sitting -motionless on some flower. - -Franka drew a deep breath and murmured: “It is bewitching.” - -“Yes, the world grows richer every day,” said Helmer; “but look, there -comes something still more amazing.” - -Through the hall swept a subdued murmur of astonishment. Franka pointed -her glass to the platform again: she expected to see another, perhaps a -still more beautiful picture, but it was the same. And yet different.... -Was it not alive? Didn’t the vines sway? Didn’t the light dance on the -mossy ground?—Yes—and now a small bird flew from one tree to another—a -gayly feathered little bird gleaming in metallic colors. For a minute or -two the fixed photograph had appeared in the frame, and now the -kinematographic reproduction of the same bit of nature was substituted -for it. To be sure, living pictures were no longer a new marvel, but the -sudden animation of the apparent painting—that was the surprising -effect; and the new victory was that kinematography in colors had been -added to the achievements of this art. For long ages men had been -seeking to imitate, to preserve the life around them—and now, what a -long distance between the first rude attempts at delineating the forms -of animals or the bones of animals, to the living picture accurate in -color and full of motion! - -The tropic landscape was followed by one from the Far North: the -luxuriance of warmth by the splendor of the cold: a polar-sea region in -the morning light. The picture must have been taken on board of a ship, -a ship surrounded by glittering icebergs. Here also there was motion; -the spaces of open sea were alive with dancing waves; sea-gulls swept -by; the clouds that moved along the horizon changed their form and -color. A third picture portrayed a bit of the sea-depths. Had a diver -carried his kinematographic apparatus down with him, or was the picture -taken from an aquarium? The question could not be decided; what seemed -to fill the frame was azure water with coral formations on the bottom, -and populated with marvelous creatures. Opaque crustaceans tinier than -grains of sand flew this way and that quicker than a flash; gelatinous -creatures were seen going about in all directions by means of invisible -organs; others proceeded by contracting their feet; diminutive medusæ -moved slowly about, carrying their umbrellas; little sagittate -animalcules dashed in agitated flight like torpedoes; anemones hung -there, like chandeliers; shadow-like, transparent creatures, iridescent, -phosphorescent creatures—beauty, beauty everywhere! - -After a brief pause, what followed was the actual Color Symphony -promised in the prologue—a concert for the eyes. The eyes alone should -enjoy it and wholly without accessories of landscape and life. The -framework disappeared; the whole platform was swallowed up in darkness -for a time, and then suddenly flamed up in a crashing chord of ruby-red, -topaz-yellow, and sapphire-blue. Then the colors began to move -rhythmically and dispose themselves into figures; they obliterated one -another and formed new combinations of ever new _nuances_; just as a -solo voice rising above an orchestral accompaniment, now hovers an -emerald-green line in the foreground and depicts—adagio—a vibrant -arabesque like a melody, while the accompanying colors diminish to a -dull silver-gray. - -A second line, of the tenderest rose, now curls round the green, as if -it were a second solo voice. Now the duet is swallowed up by a violet -glow and again begins a genuine ensemble of all the instruments: -violin-tones from the golden yellow, flute-tones from the celestial -blue, a trumpet-blast from the red, a drum-tap from the brown. In ever -new forms and interchanging tempos the colors stream together and apart. -Here they cluster into balls; there they tumble in waterfalls or hover -in flakes like soft-falling snow. The most variegated lights and -reflections and beams and flame-gleams and mother-of-pearl tints make up -the ensemble. The color symphony contained also a scherzo wherein the -melodious arabesques are transformed into a whirl of grotesque hopping -figures. The finale introduces a prestissimo with the rapidity of a -tornado, of a blizzard, which finally dies down again into calm -serenity. And ever more and more pallid grow the colors, ever duller the -lights, with a decrescendo dying gradually into the most delicate -pianissimo, until at last the stage again lies in absolute darkness. And -then against the darkness, shining brilliant red, appeared, a hundred -fold in size, the crest of the house, the symbol of beauty: a rose in -full bloom. - -After the intermission one of Toker’s famous guests, the German -physicist, delivered a brief address. He also produced a variation on -the theme of the evening. He proved, even more clearly than the animated -pictures could do, the manifold and hidden beauties of nature. He -revealed the wonder-pictures that are discovered by the microscope to -our astonished senses; the splendor of form of the Radiolaria, the -symmetry of the thousand-faceted eyes of insects; the delicate traceries -of mould and mosses invisible to the naked eye; the rich life in a drop -of stagnant water—beauty everywhere. - -But in order that the visible world may resolve into beauty, we must -learn two things: to see and to enjoy. Could there possibly be splendor -of color and grace of contour if all living beings were blind? And could -what we see ever be felt as “beautiful” if the spectator remained -without enjoyment? The evolution of organisms required a long time until -the eye was formed; and a second long period stretched between the use -of an organ of sense and the enjoyment that grew out of the use of it. -How long it took for man to learn to enjoy the beauties of nature! In -all ancient literatures no description of nature is to be found in tones -of admiration. The ancient Greeks found delight in the grace of human -bodies, in the noble lines of artistic buildings; but in their songs -there is no trace of enthusiasm over a mountain landscape, or a -seashore. Among our peasantry, living in the midst of the most -magnificent nature, the majority are unmoved by beauty of scenery. The -formation of the organs of sense must be followed by the exercise and -the refining of the corresponding organs of the soul. Then only the soul -may be raised to the inspiring mood which is called the enjoyment of -beauty. - - -After the conclusion of the physicist’s address, Toker entered Franka’s -box. “To-night, Miss Garlett, you must once more come into our circle, -and you also, Mr. Helmer. This period of talk between ten o’clock and -midnight is certainly the best and most productive recreation after the -labors of the day. And you, Gwen, have you been happy in spending the -whole evening in the company of your idol?—For you must know, Miss -Garlett, that my daughter has conceived the most violent admiration for -you—which I can perfectly understand.” - -A little later the Rose-Knighthood had gathered in Toker’s salons. In -spite of the brevity of their acquaintance, many warm friendships had -sprung up among the famous guests of the house. And, indeed, there was -no lack of interesting material for intercourse. The atmosphere was -alive with ideas suggested by the preceding addresses and performances. -“This is the week of wide perspectives,” one of the visitors pertinently -remarked on one occasion. - -Frequently distinguished personages invited by Toker from outside joined -the house-company. This evening he had invited Prince Victor Adolph, -among others, to spend the rest of the evening in the Rose-Palace, an -invitation which the young man had accepted with alacrity in spite of -Orell’s comment that it was a very mixed society: “Eccentric people. A -revolutionary flavor. No _milieu_ for Your Royal Highness.” - -The night was very warm. When Prince Victor Adolph entered the suite of -salons, many of the guests had taken refuge on the terrace to seek its -refreshing coolness. Franka, for whom the prince was looking, had also -disappeared from the salon. Toker stopped him as he was about to follow -her. - -“Fine, that you came, Your Highness. I should like to tell you something -important.” - -“Me?” His eyes wandered searchingly. - -“Yes, you. There are things which will interest you and which you might -be willing to take hold of and help. I regard you as a young man of high -thoughts and ideals,”—the prince made a gesture of surprise,—“perhaps I -am speaking too unceremoniously?” - -“Not that—but what can you know about my mode of thought, Mr. Toker?” - -“What all the world knows. You are recognized as an unusual type. You -are interested in questions, a knowledge of which as a general rule does -not reach your circles. The weal and woe of the poorer classes seem to -you important questions. You are certainly an opponent of any war, -instigated from frivolous motives.... Let me tell you what is in -preparation. In your position, as the son of a powerful ruler, you might -perhaps exert an influence which would avert a threatening misfortune.” - -“You excite my curiosity.” - -“It is as yet a very imperfect world in which individuals have the -opportunity to bring about national conflicts from personal ambition, -and where the good will of individuals is required to forfend such -evils, instead of security being the normal, natural basis of the -intercourse of nations; where one must lay secret plans to save the life -of one’s fellow-men!” - -“I am ready to enter into such a plot, Mr. Toker. Speak!” - -“Thanks, but you came here this evening to enjoy the society of my -guests, and what I have to say is not so quickly explained. Could you -come to-morrow to my study? I should like to give you a glance at some -of my correspondence which has induced me to venture approaching you.” - -“Very gladly, Mr. Toker. Would eleven o’clock suit you?” - -“Perfectly. And now I will not detain you any longer.” - -Victor Adolph took advantage of this permission to look for Franka. He -found her on the terrace, sitting with only Gwendoline for companion, at -some distance from the others. After greeting the daughter of the house, -he turned to Franka. - -“I did not come to see you in your loge this evening, gnädiges Fräulein, -because I knew that I should have the pleasure of finding you here.” - -Gwendoline, in accordance with the proverb which she knew so well, “Two -is company, three is none,” found a pretext for going away. Victor -Adolph sat down on the seat which she had vacated. Franka was ill at -ease: she had a suspicion that the prince was not going to talk about -indifferent things. He was silent for a while. That made her still more -uncomfortable, and in order to relieve the situation she began to -speak:— - -“How were you pleased with the silent concert?” - -“Concert? What concert?” he asked absently. - -“The color symphony.” - -“I was not looking at the platform, but into an almost perfectly dark -box in which I still could make out the outline of a beloved form.” - -Now Franka remained silent. What could she answer to that? - -After a rather long pause he remarked: “What a lovely evening!” - -“Marvelously beautiful,” replied Franka. The conversation could continue -on this subject. And she added: “So mild, so fragrant, so still.” - -“Still? Why, no ... don’t you hear the chirping of insects and the -wavelets breaking on the shore? The night is breathing.” - -“As if in peaceful slumber.” - -“No, it is not asleep—just see, how its hundred thousand open eyes are -sparkling.” - -She looked up at the starry sky. Indeed, there shone a myriad of -glittering eyes. As Franka sat there, bathed in the soft moonlight, with -her head upturned, her large dark eyes directed to the firmament, her -delicate features as it were illuminated with reverence, she seemed more -exquisitely beautiful than ever. - -“You are right.... Every instant one or another of the stars seems to -say, ‘I am.’ That is after all the deepest of mysteries, that -unfathomable meaning of the verb ‘to be.’” - -“Franka, I love you!” - -The words came so abruptly that Franka felt a violent shock. It fell -upon her like a burning bolt. She drew herself up and pushed back her -chair. Victor Adolph was himself startled at his own words; he had not -anticipated making so sudden a declaration of his love. Here once more -were those primitive incitements to passion and love:—the summer night, -the perfume of flowers, the moonlight ... and that bewitching beauty! - -Beauty had been the topic of the whole evening: the magic of the tropics -and of the Arctic sea, of Radiolaria and anemones, but there had not -been a word said about the most potent of all the powers of beauty—in a -lovely young woman’s face. What were all the lilies and birds of -paradise, what were all the dancing colors and lights, in comparison to -such a pair of beaming eyes, from which gleamed a human soul? - -A short pause ensued, during which both felt their hearts beat faster. -Then Victor Adolph began to speak in a low tone:— - -“You must not be angry, Fräulein Garlett ... the audacious words came -almost involuntarily out of my mouth. Honestly, I, myself, as I said -them for the first time, have realized what deep feelings toward you I -cherish. Yes, I love you, sincerely and passionately. I believe you -might crown my happiness with the richest gift one could conceive if -only you would return my love. You must not for an instant misunderstand -me—I offer you my hand. Do not answer now—I desire no hasty answer. You -must first weigh all things in the balance—for there would be -difficulties, reserves.... I am not a free and independent man, and -perhaps great responsibilities will be put upon me....” - -Franka stood up: “You asked me not to answer and I beg you, my prince, -my dear prince,”—her voice trembled with deep emotion,—“do not say -anything more.... I am going into the salon now.” - -She took a few steps and was soon surrounded by a number of persons. The -tête-à-tête was at an end. The prince, bowing low, went off in another -direction. Franka took no further part in the social festivities but -fled to her room. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON - - -In the mean time, John Toker and Helmer were chatting in the salon. The -two men were sitting in the embrasure of one of the windows behind a -screen of tall, big-leafed plants, and were unseen and undisturbed. - -“This would seem an admirable place for a pair to flirt in,” remarked -Toker, as he led his guest to it; “but this privacy will also suit us. I -have as yet had no good opportunity to thank you for your address; -moreover, this afternoon, I have read the translation of it, and so only -now realize how completely our ideas and aims are in agreement. You say -quite rightly, mankind has reached the turning of the ways. Either—Or. -It truly cannot continue as it is. Therefore, we must put forth all our -energies, even if our energies are of no great magnitude. And I have a -high opinion of the power of the pen; it can charm in a playful way; but -it can also be a very mighty instrument of harm and of help.” - -“What you say, Mr. Toker, reminds me of a conversation which I had not -long ago with a fellow-countryman, a boyhood friend of mine. He asked me -how I could devote my art, my talent to the service of politics and such -inartistic objects. I answered, ‘Because there is a fire, my dear -friend. And if—in such a case—one holds in one’s hands a brimming -pitcher, one uses it to quench the flames and not to water flowers.’” - -“Quite right; so let us put out the fire. News which has reached me -to-day makes me fear that there is going to be a great disturbance. The -work which we are doing here—the exerting of influence on thinking -men—proceeds—quite too slowly, I am sorry to say—in spite of all our -apparatus for wide publicity.” - -“Yes,” agreed Helmer; “it is a dribbling, instead of a flood. Before -minds gradually change, the avalanche of collected stupidity comes -rolling down and buries the whole region. Here I am speaking in -metaphors again.... I keep detecting myself in this habit. Prince Victor -Adolph thought that pardonable in a poet. Now, that I think of it: this -prince—in spite of his position—is on our side in all his inclinations, -and so—precisely because of his position—he might successfully help us -in the endeavor to put out the fire.” - -“I had the very same idea. You know his reputation?” - -“More than that: I know his inclinations.” And Helmer related the -interview which he had held that very same day with the prince. - -“Well, he seems to be a splendid young man,” said Toker. “To-morrow, at -eleven o’clock, he is coming to see me, in order to plan a campaign. The -rescue, the saving of the lives of a hundred thousand people—that is to -be the object of our conspiracy. He just told me....” - -“Just told you? Is he here?” - -“Yes, he came at my invitation. At this instant he is on the terrace, as -my daughter told me, and is sitting in the moonlight very sentimentally -talking with Miss Garlett.” - -Helmer made a sudden motion and suppressed a groan. This did not escape -the older man’s attention. - -“Oh, Herr Helmer, is that disagreeable to you? Perhaps you are somewhat -sentimentally inclined to your pretty table-companion and -fellow-countrywoman yourself?... That would be quite natural. Don’t -shake your head...young men are quite properly in love; I like to see -it. I will not detain you ... go out on the terrace and interrupt the -flirtation, if you object to it. It would be much better for the young -lady if she should incline her heart to you....” - -“Good Heavens! I could not enter into competition with the prince ... if -things are actually as you seem to think.” - -“Why not? ‘Faint heart never won fair lady.’” - -“You yourself, Mr. Toker, set me very different tasks from that of -winning a maiden’s heart.” - -“Hold on! Hold on!... I am no fanatic, no man of one idea. To work for a -great public object does not require that a man should give himself body -and soul to this affair. One must not neglect one’s duties toward one’s -own happiness. When one has the foundation of domestic content, of -cheerful peace of mind, one can work much more effectively for a great -cause. It gives harmony and balance. And then, energy grows out of it as -a tree springs out of a rich soil—you see, I can also speak in figures. -Well, good-bye for now. I will go around among my guests for a little -while longer. To-morrow we will take up our plot again.” - -Helmer hastened out on the terrace: not as Mr. Toker had advised, to -break up the flirtation, but to observe it. Yet in spite of his zeal to -find that which would cause him misery—he found nothing: the couple was -not to be seen on the terrace. - - -Franka had been for some time in her room. She did not turn on the -light, but went out on the balcony and threw herself into her -rocking-chair. She wanted to think over what had occurred in the very -same atmosphere in which it had occurred—in the fragrant moonlit, summer -night. - -She drew her lace shawl closer over her shoulders and leaned back in her -chair, rocking slowly to and fro. She recalled the words which had so -overwhelmed her with amazement. Again she seemed to hear distinctly the -accent in which “Franka, I love you” had been spoken and the still more -momentous “You must not for an instant misunderstand me: I offer you my -hand.” _My hand_—_my hand_ ... like a refrain which runs in one’s head -these words sang themselves to her, and here again were the same warm -breath of the night, the same penetrating perfume of violets which -emanated from the already half-faded bouquet that she wore on her bosom. -He was in no hurry for a reply—so much the better! Had she given either -a hasty “Yes” or a hasty “No,” perhaps she might be even now regretting -it. So the decision was postponed: it was left to her free and -deliberate choice, whether she should seize this marvelous Future, big -with portentous eventualities, or reject it.... “Difficulties, -reserves.”... Her pride revolted ... why had she not said “No” on the -spot? But is it not true—a king’s son: such a step is not taken so -easily. And it would involve sacrifices, renunciations, struggles.... - -That very morning she had been anticipating with some longing a -thunderstorm of love—to tell the truth, the image of another lover had -arisen in her mind; now in truth such a storm had burst upon her, but it -had not brought any relief to her mental strain. In the dazzling -lightning-stroke of that declaration of love by the one, the image of -the other had grown somewhat pale, but was not wholly obliterated. -Evidently this other did not love her. He had constantly shown himself -active in promoting the interests of Victor Adolph; that very evening in -the hall.... - -“Are you there, Franka?” It was Frau von Rockhaus. She had turned on the -light in the room and was now standing in the balcony door. “I did not -see you any longer downstairs and supposed that you had gone to bed.... -Why didn’t you call me?” - -“I knew that you would soon be following. It is pretty late.” - -“That was a very pronounced wooing this evening,” observed Frau -Eleonore. “Did he propose at last?” - -“Who?” - -“Who! The prince, of course!” - -“You are inquisitive, dear Eleonore. Let us go to bed. I am sleepy. -Good-night.” - -She rang for her maid and went to her bedroom. But she found no rest. - - -Victor Adolph also spent a restless night. During the past forty-eight -hours events and impressions had been overwhelmingly sweeping in upon -him. That address of Helmer’s, opening new perspectives before his soul; -the tidings that perhaps a throne would be offered him; that conspiracy -for the advantage of the contemporary world, which John Toker wanted to -conduct with his assistance; and finally this summer night’s dream which -had ended with such a sudden and mighty flaming up of passion that he -had surrendered to it for all time.... - -The tormenting part of the situation was that he saw himself facing not -merely one, but several fateful questions. When he wanted to devote -himself to thoughts of his beloved arose the vision of the beckoning -throne, and when he attempted to balance the chances and the obligations -which such a change of conditions would bring with it, then arose the -image of the woman whom he loved—to whom he had offered his hand. And -what difficulties heaped themselves up before him! What battles there -would be! Had not this step been indiscreet? Aye, that it had; but is -passion ever discreet? - - -When the prince, agreeably to his promise, reached Toker’s study the -next morning, Toker had already gone through his mail. He had found -various additional particulars which tended more than ever to arouse his -fears regarding the threatened dangers. He went to meet the exalted -visitor. - -“You are very punctual, Prince.” - -Newspapers and letters were arranged on a round center-table. - -“Please, let us sit down without delay; I have put in order the various -papers which might serve to show my motives for the action I have in -mind.” - -“I have faith in your action, Mr. Toker, without your proving motives,” -said the prince, as he took his place at the table. - -Toker followed his example and put a few English, French, and German -newspapers before him. “Please read first of all the passages marked in -blue pencil.” - -“Those are sheer alarmist prognostications,” remarked the prince, after -he had glanced through the designated passages. “‘War-in-sight’ news. -And actually maps—already—of the probable seat of war!” - -“And now read the passages marked in red.” - -“Bad news again: bomb-throwing ... strikes ... conspiracy ... -lynchings ... hunger-revolts ... riots....” - -“In other words, we are facing a war on the one hand and a revolution on -the other.” - -“Excuse me, Mr. Toker, but perhaps you take the matter too tragically,” -said the prince, pushing the papers to one side. “The rumors of wars are -apparently false or are merely incitements—we have been reading the like -for many years regularly in the papers and yet nothing comes of them. -These revolutionary attacks do happen here and there and are always -speedily suppressed: order is immediately restored.” - -“Yes, yes, it has been smouldering now for a number of years. But we -must not wait until the flames break out; it is time for us to trample -out the sparks.” Toker spoke these last words in a wrathful tone. -“Patience ceases to be a virtue,” he went on to say, “when it consists -in allowing misfortune to approach; then it should be called simply -unconcern. Now read this also.” He handed the prince some letters and -telegrams for him to glance over. “Those are private communications from -parties in a position to be well informed. They show much more clearly -than the news published in the papers that the evil so much talked about -is ready to appear.” - -The prince read the letters and dispatches carefully. “In truth,” was -his comment, “things do look a bit threatening. What do you propose, Mr. -Toker, in order to avert the danger? And do you think there is still -time enough?” - -“The term ‘too late’ should never be allowed when the question concerns -a work of help or rescue. As you yourself just remarked, for a number of -years conflicts have cropped up in the most varied places; panics have -been precipitated; people have been getting ready for the conflict; the -catastrophe has been generally expected, and then nothing has come of -it. In early times it was not so. When the well-known black speck -appeared on the political horizon, one could expect a storm with -certainty. Now new forces have entered into the world, which have -succeeded in driving away the clouds. The peaceable intentions of the -rulers have been strengthened; the pugnacity of the nations has been -curbed—the world is gradually changing. And perhaps these perils -also”—he pointed to the newspapers and letters—“will be dissipated and -there will be time to act. Only we must not delay. If we allow things to -go on unchecked, the crash must come.” - -“Well, what is to be done? And what could _I_ do to help? A little -princelet like me—I need not tell you—has no power and no liberty. Even -at this minute, while I am engaging in this conspiracy with you behind -the back of my honorary jailer, General Orell, I am deeply involving -myself in disgrace!” - -Toker smiled. “This is not your first offense, as I have reason to -suspect. Your attendance at popular meetings is well known; your -predilection for the reading of sociological books, not receivable at -court, is well known. But for the very reason that you have a knowledge -of the problems of the day and an open mind, I have turned to you. So, -then, listen—this is the thing:—A new Hague Conference is about to be -opened....” - -“Pardon me,” interrupted Victor Adolph, “these conferences have so far -failed to bring about the change expected of them.” - -“Still, they have brought something significant, new, and great into the -world—the generality of the people certainly know very little about -them. They have not attained their object for the reason that they have -been diverted from that object by their own members:—an article was -smuggled into the programme that had no business to be there—regulation -of war:—for a large proportion of the delegates consisted either of -soldiers or adherents of sovereignty. These men were assiduous in -keeping the old principles safe from the danger with which they were -threatened by the conference as originally proposed—that is, from -compulsory arbitration and limitation of armament. But the old -principles have not remained entirely intact, for there were also -representatives of the new ideas at The Hague, who fortunately achieved -the foundation of new institutions. Imagine a congress of freethinkers -in which the majority of the delegates were bishops and where the larger -part of the time was spent in discussing the regulation of ritualistic -forms!... There you have a picture of the first Hague Peace Congresses. -But I am speaking of the next one. Since the last one, things have -ripened. Since then, the desire for peace has strengthened among all the -governments, and especially among the masses. Since then the waste of -money on armaments has reached such dimensions that universal bankruptcy -is at hand. Since then, the battleships have grown into such monsters, -and all the other instruments of death and destruction have attained -such fiendish power, that they serve not so much for fighting as for -combined self-annihilation.... Since then, the common people have been -brought to the end of their endurance by loans and taxes and high -prices. Since then, the proletariat, always hostile to war, has more and -more come to a realization of its solidarity and power. Since then, so -many friendships, treaties, and conventions have arisen that it needs -now only an impulse for a general European ‘Legal Union.’ Since then, -all the groups interested have combined in an international -organization. Since then, a world-conscience has come into being. Since -then, the atmosphere has been conquered. Since then, human thoughts have -attained wings.... Since then....” - -The old gentleman had worked himself into a fine heat; he had got up, -and at every sentence his voice had grown louder. At the last “Since -then,” he suddenly stopped and sat down again. Then he went on in a -calmer tone:— - -“Here we will pause—at the conception ‘Soaring Thoughts.’ The delegates -to the next conference are to be inspired with such thinking. They must -bring with them the resolution to accomplish something great, something -bold. The position of affairs has so entirely changed in the mean time, -with its promising new possibilities, and the dangers, so nearly -threatening, must be looked in the face unflinchingly. That would be our -salvation.” - -“But what can I do in all this, Mr. Toker?” - -“Prince, you by virtue of your rank can obtain the ear of those on whose -will the programme and the results of the conference depend.” - -“And you believe that I could influence that?” - -“You can explain. They will listen to you. You can show what golden -bridges this conference offers. You can bring it about that a peace -league of rulers shall be formed.” - -“Rulers are the prisoners of their armies....” - -“If they do not break these chains, which also at the same time bind the -peoples,—then the peoples will do it; and that would be terrible, like -every deed of despair.” - -“And do you believe that the armies would consent to disband?” - -“Who speaks about ‘disbanding’? If the States make an alliance for one -common international law, then their armies—the greatly reduced -armies—will unite for the protection of the laws that affect them all in -common, for defense against attacks from those that stand outside the -alliance, for the maintenance of internal order, for affording aid....” - -“I understand....” - -“Yes, I knew that you are one who would understand. But do you -understand also why I, an American, have the fate of Europe so deeply at -heart; why I want to see the Old World protected from a catastrophe, why -I likewise wish that its aristocratic and monarchical institutions, so -long ago with us outlived, should, at least for a time, remain intact?” - -“Perhaps from an artistic sense,” suggested the prince, “just as we -preserve picturesque ruins.” - -“‘Ruins’ is too strong a term; they are still proud and lofty castles; -only they are—let us say—a little dilapidated: a violent storm would -devastate them; they can still be safeguarded by rods. Again, why do I -feel and act for Europe? You must know that we Americans, at the bottom -of our hearts cherish a family-feeling for Europe. It is the cradle of -our race; it is the ultimate source of our civilization—physically and -spiritually, it is our ancestral fatherland. We love it and are thankful -to it. Therefore it comes about that, when we accomplish any great -technical advance or conceive some higher social or political ideal, we -immediately feel the impulse to let the ‘whole world’—and by that term -we think especially of Europe—share in it. We are like children who have -been educated far away, have made our fortune there, and regard it as a -pleasant duty to send back to the aged parents some share of the -treasures we have gained.... But let us return to our conspiracy, -Prince. You are not the only one with whom I am conspiring. I place my -mines in various localities. The Government at Washington is in the -alliance. The propositions which it will bring forward at the next -conference will not leave anything in the way of ‘High Thinking’ to be -desired. I have already spoken with the President of the French -Republic—” - -“Yes—as I have mentioned before: Republicans—” - -“No; that is not the condition. In order that something great may come -out of the conference, it is essential that it be approached with -magnanimous resolves; we must attempt not only a little step forward, -but we must attempt flying. I know one man, one powerful man, who is -capable of making such resolves and such a flight. And what I want of -you, Prince, is: Speak with the one man—he will listen to you—you are -his son!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - SPEECHES AND LETTERS - - -When Victor Adolph left Toker’s study, he felt still more oppressed than -he had been before. A new task had been added to the many prospects and -obligations that were so disturbing to his peace of mind: alluring -prospects, noble tasks, sweet obligations, but in their combination a -scourge of anxieties. And there was no one with whom he might take -counsel, to whom he might open his heart; on the contrary, he had the -perpetual companionship of a man from whom he was obliged to conceal his -inmost thoughts and inclinations—this Orell—and now he had two more -secrets to hide from him. Suppose he should discover that the Royal -Highness entrusted to his protection had offered himself to a woman -without rank and title, and had concealed plans with an American for the -demilitarization of Europe! - -Victor Adolph could not help smiling as he pictured to himself the -general standing there, his face scarlet with wrath and horror, his hair -standing on end, and the points of his mustaches trembling. How he would -gasp for words and for breath, and how these words would be even more -laconic and drastic than ever—“Prince ripe for the madhouse!... Cursed -girl.... Caught in the first net.... Old Yankee-doodle.... Proposals to -His Majesty!... To hell with the Rose-Saint-Vitus-dance!” - -As he drove away, the prince met Helmer returning from the morning walk. -The encounter was a pleasant surprise. Here was one with whom he might -exchange a few thoughts,—at least, might talk with him about Toker’s -plans,—since he was already initiated into the conspiracy. - -“Good-morning, Herr Helmer; I am glad to meet you. Are you just on your -way home?” - -“Yes, Your Royal Highness.” - -“Have you anything important that you must do immediately?” - -“Not at all.” - -“Then, if you will permit me, I will go with you to your lodgings.” - -“That will be an honor and a pleasure. If you please, this way, Your -Royal Highness; my rooms are on the ground floor.” - -He conducted the prince up a few steps, through a corridor to his -sitting-room door, which he opened to usher his visitor in. - -“But you are all roses here!” cried Victor Adolph as he entered. - -“Yes, the whole house is dedicated to the queen of flowers. But all this -splendor will soon be ended. Two days more and the Rose-Week will be a -thing of the past. Then we shall all be scattered to the four winds.” - -“But what has been uttered, planted, experienced, felt here will not be -scattered to the winds.” And as the prince sat down in the easy-chair -which Helmer pushed forward for him, he added with a deep sigh, “I have -gone through a vast lot of experiences since I have been here.” - -Helmer looked up inquiringly: “Yet nothing terrible, I hope?” - -“That’s as one looks at it—may I?” And he took a cigarette from a -smoking-table standing near. - -Helmer gave him a light, then sat down on the other side of the table, -and they were soon engaged in earnest talk. - -The prince related his interviews with the master of the house, the news -which he had got from the letters and papers and the plans that Toker -had developed. Helmer manifested the liveliest interest. The -observations that he interpolated, the opinions that he expressed, the -warmth and readiness of enthusiasm which accompanied all his words and -gestures, were so sympathetic to the prince that he felt mightily drawn -to the poet. It did him good to be free to talk with an intelligent mind -about the mission with which Toker had entrusted him. His burden of care -already began to seem lighter. Here he could find counsel and stimulus -and support. His heart began to glow. - -“It is a perfect delight, Helmer,” said he, bending over the table and -laying his hand on the other’s arm, “to speak about these things with -you. You have experience and a keen insight, and you have—what shall I -call it?—_Schwingen_—pinions—the upsoaring spirit.... I wish you were my -friend.... Be my friend!” - -“I am, as far as I may, my prince.” - -The two men shook hands. - -“Truly, I have never had a friend; always nothing but flatterers, -time-servers, or else highly respectable jailors, eager _maîtres de -plaisir_; here and there, among those of my own rank and relationship, a -good fellow all too ready for sport and the like—but a friend? Not one! -Not one whom one may trust if one is in trouble or is experiencing a -great happiness—not one to ask advice of in a difficulty.” - -“Is that your case, Your Highness?” asked Helmer sympathetically. - -“That is my case.” - -“Will you honor me with your confidence?” - -The prince stood up and walked in some agitation back and forth a few -times; then he went to the window and gazed out for a while. He was -evidently having a struggle with himself. Then he suddenly turned -round:—“Well, then, listen!” - -Helmer had also risen and was leaning on his writing-table which stood -near the window. He bent his head. “I am listening.” And at the same -time a suspicion flashed through his mind that he was about to hear -something unpleasant. - -“Well, then,” proceeded Victor Adolph. “Happiness, difficulty—everything -comes all at once. During the last twenty-four hours, more things and -more important things have surged into my life than hitherto in many -years. It has been revealed to me that a position of great power—the -position of a monarch—a crown—might be offered to me. I am as democratic -in my instincts as any one could well be; you know that ... yet, I -confess, the notion seems dazzling to me. In the case of other men only, -too great power seems perilous; in one’s own case, one is convinced that -it can be used only for advantage. How much I could help and -accomplish—even in the spirit of those ‘lofty thoughts’ which are at the -present time soaring out from here into the world.—Then the mission, -which I have undertaken at Toker’s desire, to win over my father to an -action which might establish on a firm basis his treasured ideal of -international peace—all these things would be splendid tasks.” - -“In what consists the trouble, Prince? I see only the happiness and no -difficulty.” - -“The happiness consists in something else—and the difficulty is, that I -must renounce either those duties or the happiness. If I cling to the -happiness, I should lose yonder position and influence, and perhaps my -rank. I am in love, Helmer, madly in love—and I have not the strength of -will to renounce my beloved:—yesterday I made her an offer of marriage.” - -Helmer was playing with a paper-cutter: it fell with a crash on the -floor. He stooped over to pick it up, and thus he concealed the pallor -that suddenly invaded his face. So then the moment had arrived, when -that which he had so often dreaded was a reality. He had really never -even hoped to win Franka; he had himself hinted to her the remote -possibility that the prince would be her suitor and had tried to -persuade himself that he would unselfishly rejoice at it. But hitherto -it had been only an unreal figment of his imagination; now it was the -truth. He took longer in regaining the paper-cutter than was necessary. -Now he drew himself up once more. - -“So you are to be congratulated,” he said, trying hard to control his -voice. “Is Fräulein Garlett already your betrothed?” - -“I cannot as yet call her that ... she has not given her answer ... the -whole affair is still a secret. Oh, Helmer, I cannot tell you how it has -relieved me to take you into my confidence!” - -Without knocking, John Toker entered the room: “Hello, Mr. Helmer; the -gong is about sounding for luncheon; I wanted to speak with you about -something beforehand. Ah, you are not alone?...” He at that instant -became aware of the presence of Victor Adolph, who stepped forward from -the embrasure of the window. “Ah, is it you, Your Highness?” - -“Yes, it is I; but I must be going now.” And he heartily took his leave -of the two men. - - -Helmer entered the dining-room in great agitation. How could he endure -meeting Franka with the knowledge that the die had been cast, that she -was about to belong to another? And how would he succeed in hiding the -pangs of jealousy which tormented his heart? Yet he was spared for a -time these difficulties. Franka was not present, and he was informed -that she had sent her apologies for missing the luncheon—she had a -headache. Helmer felt relieved, and yet disappointed. Now it seemed to -him as if he had a hundred things to say to her, and as if he had been -robbed of his privilege of being the first to congratulate her, the -first who should venture to speak with her about this crisis in her -destiny, even before the others knew anything about it. - -The conversation at table on this occasion was very animated. -Toker’s guests, as well as Toker himself, had detected in the -reports of newspapers signs of threatening political peril, and -there was a discussion of the conditions. It was conducted in a tone -of dismay, but not at all in the spirit of the usual political -“Kannegiessereien”—narrow-minded twaddle: no combinations based on -diplomatic-national-strategical-historical premises as to whether, -if X-land should declare war on Z-land, Y-land should stand by X or -Z; whether X or Z would have the better chances of winning out; in -what relationship the sea-power of the one would stand toward the -air-power of the other; from what grounds of rivalry or expansion -the conflict had arisen and its outbreak become unavoidable; what -clashing of interests in lofty spheres and what alterations of -boundary lines were imminent, and other technical absurdities of the -same routine variety. No, here were assembled the élite among men, -who looked down from the higher pinnacles on the course of the -world; who based their judgment on philosophical criteria and their -will on humane sentiments. - -The French senator and the American statesman, as they sat side by side, -had been for five minutes engaged in a confidential conversation. Then -the Frenchman arose, and tapping on his glass to call the attention of -the Table Round, spoke as follows:— - -“I ask your hearing for a proposal.” All came to silence. With the -refined, quiet manner of a diplomatist he went on:—“My honored friend, -sitting next to me, whose statesmanlike services for the cause of peace -are known to all of you, and I, have just been talking over an idea -which has been suggested by the political news so unanimously commented -upon in our midst. The war of the future, so long predicted, stands -before our door: not so near that it may surprise us at any hour, but -still near enough to make us mobilize without delay all the forces that -can be used to ward it off.” - -“Hear, hear!” cried John Toker, with flashing eyes. - -“There are people who desire this war—especially among the officers and -general-staff circles, with whom such a desire is part of their -profession—and there are people who do _not_ want it. Now the question -is, which of these two groups will have the preponderance? The masses, -for the most part, wherever there is any thought at all, belong to the -second group, but they are dumb and as yet powerless—I say as yet -powerless, for the day may come, and now seems not so very far away, -when this will no longer be the case. But to-day the power of decision -still lies in the hands of the few. Among these few some are for -war—some are against it. Here also those who are against it are already -more numerous; but the others have higher positions and more influence. -What we have to do, then, is to weigh down the scales against the war -with the weight of public opinion and the combined pressure of widely -renowned and highly respected names. And now comes our proposition.” - -He paused to drink a swallow of water. The others gave eager attention. -Helmer also, who had been till that moment absorbed in his own thoughts, -was now listening attentively:— - -“Ladies and gentlemen,” continued the senator, “we possess here—thanks -to the genius and the millions of our host—it is good when these two are -combined—an apparatus for publicity of marvelous efficacy. What we say -here is sent by wireless telegraphy circling round the world; it is -taken up by ten thousand rotary presses, is repeated by ten thousand -phonographs, is preserved in all the libraries and archives in -existence. So much for the echo. And now for the weight. Let us put -aside false modesty; the Knighthood of the Rose must be conscious and -ought to be conscious of its noble rank, in order to be forever mindful -of the work to which it is pledged. John Toker summons only his -contemporaries of world-wide reputation; only those who through their -art, their scientific abilities, their inventions, their political -activities,—particularly their service in the politics of peace,—have -served all men, and therefore possess universal authority. Just as in -every great country there is the upper ten thousand of the aristocracy, -so we—once more I say, away with false modesty!—form the world’s -half-hundred of talent.” - -Toker clapped his hands; the others began to do the same, but the -speaker stretched out his arm in a deprecating gesture and proceeded:— - -“We have here a tribune which is visible from all the civilized places -of the earth; our voices ring out as from a gigantic gramophone. So -let us raise these voices in a solemn protest. Let us on the last -evening, instead of indulging, as usually is prearranged on such -occasions, in rhetorical and artistic performances,—let us attempt an -act of rescue. Let us, in a tone of thunder, call a halt to this -disaster! This disaster is no elementary catastrophe beyond the power -of the human will; it is an action commanded by rulers and executed by -the nations, and it must not be commanded and it must not be executed. -If all see clearly how things lie, and if all have the opportunity to -express their will, the ‘Halt!’ sounding forth from here can swell up -into an irresistible negative. The threatening war—we all know what an -insignificant controversy is at the bottom of it—can be averted either -by mediation or by an appeal to the Court of Arbitration. If this is -not done, if the Fury—a Fury armed with fangs, fins, and jaws, and now -also with wings—is again let loose, then it will kindle a -world-conflagration. We will to-day give the world a clear -demonstration of the case; we will put forth an energetic demand for -mediation or arbitration; we want to raise a strong protest against an -easy or an intentional sufferance of the catastrophe. In all the -centers, where our message penetrates, opportunity is offered for all -the leaders and all the consenting masses to unite; and the word -uttered here may swell up into a plebiscite that will encompass the -earth. Is this your sentiment, Mr. Toker?—do you agree to this, -gentlemen?” - -Toker, who sat opposite the speaker, bent across and shook both his -hands. - -“Is that my sentiment! One more mine laid!” - - -Helmer, as soon as he returned to his room, sat down to write to Franka. -He felt compelled to speak to her. His heart was full to bursting. Yet -he did not know what he should write her. Only the necessity was upon -him to direct to her another of his “Brother Chlodwig” letters, after -the manner of those which he had sent to her at several of the serious -crises of her life. He began:— - -“Sister Franka”—but hardly had his eyes rested on the dear name when he -was irresistibly impelled to add, “I worship thee!” Of course, it was -evident to him that he must tear up this sheet and throw it into the -waste-paper basket. But first he wanted to let his feelings exhaust -themselves to a certain degree in the same vein, and so he wrote -further:—“Yes, I worship thee! Sweet ... lovely ... the only one! I -press thee to my heart and kiss thee ... kiss thee....” (Oh, how this -word flamed on the paper—he wrote it a third time.) “Kiss thee on thine -eyelids, on thy parted lips! Franka, Franka, that another man will have -a right to do ... it is horrible!... I am wretched!... How can I endure -it? Let us not think of it. I kiss thee again, Franka, my Franka, mine, -mine, mine.... The dear lovely name, ‘Franka,’ in French, ‘Franche,’ -isn’t it? Franchetta, donna idolatrata! Frankie, my own darling! Dost -thou suspect what bliss thou hast to dispose? Dost thou know also....” - -This brought him to the end of the page. He did not turn the sheet over, -but tore it up and flung it into the basket. Then he put another sheet -before him, sat for some time buried in thoughts, and then began again -to write. This was to be the actual letter which he would send:— - - - FRANKA GARLETT! - - Again you stand at the turning of the ways and it is the privilege of - Brother Chlodwig to bring you a few words—words of blessing. To-day - you have withdrawn yourself apparently in order to think over the - crisis that affects your heart and your future. I do not have any - faith in that excuse of a headache! So it is forbidden me to talk with - you about the matter: therefore I am writing. It is, after all, more - agreeable for me to do so. If I first offer you my congratulations, it - will be possible for me to meet you more calmly. For I must confess - that I am deeply stirred. I should not have found the right attitude, - the right words, if I had been obliged to sit by your side at the - luncheon-table, knowing what I know, and appear calm and at my ease in - the presence of all those people, while inwardly I was more disturbed - than ever before in all my life. - - Franka, do you remember? I was the first to give you the Valkyrie - consecration; you received from my hands the shield and the spear. - These weapons have certainly to-day become a burden to you, and yet - you perhaps feel a reproach from your conscience at the thought of - laying them down. Now I will be helpful to you, and I myself will put - forth my hand to relieve you of them. My noble Valkyrie, you have - gallantly battled and have won the victory—it is enough! Be - henceforth—and be unregretfully—merely a joyous human being, just a - happy woman. A fire-spell flames around you, but there is nothing - fabulous about it—it is only Love.... - - By Victor Adolph’s side, you will, moreover, be able to work for the - loftiest human ends. For he himself stands now facing mighty tasks, - which he has energetically assumed and which you will be able, by your - influence, your advice, your sympathy, greatly to forward. Certainly, - the epoch which is approaching is pregnant with fate—so much explosive - material has been heaped up, and yet wisdom enough also has been - collected to hinder the explosion, enough also to conduct the forces - on hand from destructive to beneficent uses. Your betrothed will help - in this work and you will help him. Is not that a proud destiny? - - But, above all, let it be a beautiful, gladsome destiny! Smile, be - rapturous, live, be crowned with roses. - - CHLODWIG. - - -Helmer folded the sheet and thrust it into an envelope. One might judge -from the contents of the letter that he did this with a sort of gentle -ceremoniousness; not at all: he did it grinding his teeth, with -fever-cold hands, with swift-beating pulses. Then he rang for his man -and ordered him to deliver the letter immediately. - -Bruning entered the room simultaneously with the servant. - -“Ah, I am glad to find you in, Helmer; I have been for a long time -anxious to have a sensible chat with you.” - -Helmer did not share this longing; the call seemed to him highly -inopportune; but what else could he say than “Fine; I’m pleased to see -you. Sit down.” - -Bruning made himself at home. “You don’t look quite up to concert-pitch, -old man? Evidently, you are right glad to have the whole affair over and -done with. I, too, am glad enough that it will be ended in a couple of -days. A good deal has been very interesting, but the whole effect is so -exotic and so extravagant. You know me—I can’t stand humbug. What’s your -plan? Where are you going from here?” - -“Going back to Berlin. And you?” - -“I am going to the Sielenburg. The old Countess Schollendorf invited me. -The Sielenburg really belongs to Miss Garlett, doesn’t it? And she has -still other estates? All of it might have been yours long ago if you had -been a bit clever. But you have let her get snapped away from you: every -one has seen that the German prince is after her.” - -Helmer made a gesture of annoyance. “And you call this a sensible chat?” - -“Well, then, let’s talk about other things. There is lots of news. Our -famous sportsman yesterday got a pair of wings fitted to him and fell -into the lake.” - -“Regenburg? Was he drowned?” - -“No, they fished him out. But if I know him, he will not rest until he -has flown round the Stefansturm. Ambition is a fine thing and especially -when, by satisfying it, one breaks his own neck and not other -people’s ... as ambitious statesmen are mighty apt to do. In their case -hundreds of thousands are in danger of their lives.” - -“You have in mind the old-fashioned type of statesmen,” said Helmer, -shrugging his shoulders. - -“Not by a long chalk.... I had especially in mind our Marchese Rinotti. -He will blossom out only in the future, and he will have nerve and -temperament enough to mow his way through hecatombs of victims in -perfect _sang-froid_ if it suits his plans. That belongs to his trade.” - -“Times are changing, my dear Franz.... Nowadays, the national -helmsmen—whether princes or ministers—already begin to set their -ambition on being considered the guardians of the peace.” - -“In their words and phrases ... but you are irretrievably naïf, my good -Chlodwig. Whoever is to be a genuine statesman must lie, must endeavor -to pull the wool over the eyes of the others. He contracts friendship -with other powers, not in the least out of good will toward his allies, -but to make common head against a third. He secretly stirs up enmities; -for he may get advantage from possible conflicts of others in which he -himself is not involved. In order to confirm and strengthen his own -power, he without any scruples drives rough-shod over all obstacles, -such as treaties, conventions, and the like: in short, he—” - -“In short, he is a scoundrel!” - -“Call it so. In popular parlance he is a genius. But don’t let us -dispute. Your kingdom is in the clouds. Only I fear you will soon get a -bad fall. Do you happen to be reading the news? Such things are under -way as—” - -“Oh, I know perfectly well what is threatening; but I know also what -beckons. I have long given up discussing with you. It is remarkable how -two men, classmates and comrades in childhood and in the early days of -youth, can so grow apart in their views of life. And neither of us is -stupid!” - -“The difference is this—you are intellectual and I am prudent.” - -“I hate the word ‘prudent.’ It sounds cold and harsh: it has no uplift.” - -“That I grant you, my dear pinion-poet! I am a sober, matter-of-fact -man. As such let me tell you a couple of incidents from real life. You -must know that the two interesting widows, to whom I introduced you -lately—that impetuous Countess Solnikova and that gentle Annette -Felsen—have been having a great experience during the last two days. -Romances are brought to a climax here with amazing rapidity ... perhaps -for the reason that we have here, as it were, only a week’s respite. Now -the countess has been making a little flight with your Polish -composer—not a flight in the figurative, but in the actual, sense of the -word. For you see they hired a fine aërotaxi and in it flew over the -mountains: the wind drove them into a deserted region and they had to -spend the night in a shed.... There is no need of harboring any -suspicions about it. And as regards Annette Felsen she became regularly -engaged to our Machiavelli yesterday.” - -“Is that so?” said Helmer, with mild interest. “Yes,” he added rather to -himself, “romances come to a climax here with great rapidity.” - - -At the very door of his hotel, Prince Victor Adolph met General Orell, -who came to him in great haste. - -“At last, Your Royal Highness,” he exclaimed; and added reproachfully, -“You went out without my escort!” - -“I don’t want always to trouble you, dear Orell.” - -“A telegram has just come for Your Royal Highness.” - -Victor Adolph, surprised, took the dispatch and tore open the envelope. -He was evidently startled. The dispatch was from his father:—“Your -presence here is imperatively needed in a highly important political -emergency, affecting you personally. Come by next train.” - -“If possible we must leave this very day. Please, General, find what -time the trains start and bring me the information to my room. I will -precede you.” - -As soon as he reached his room, he threw himself down into his -easy-chair, and read the dispatch a second time. Evidently it concerned -that eventuality of the throne ... then he must obey. Besides, he would -necessarily in any case obey such a peremptory command of his father and -king. Yet how inconveniently it came.... That other great -eventuality—his relations with Franka—was still in the air—he had not as -yet received her answer, and she knew nothing of the difficulties that -had to be surmounted. To depart now! Truly, too many complications.... - -General Orell brought the time-table. The next, being also the last -train, left at five o’clock in the afternoon. It was now one,—time -enough for making preparations and for a farewell call upon Franka. He -felt he must speak with her. He took a hasty luncheon with Orell. Then -he returned to his study and put his papers in order. He wrote to Toker, -explaining his sudden departure and promised to keep his task in mind. -He also addressed a few cordial lines to Helmer. - -Now the next thing was to go to Franka. What should he say to her? If -she accepted his proposal,—and he really had no doubt that she -would,—the engagement could not possibly be made public—certainly not at -this time, when the question of the accession to the throne was still -undecided: it would be the most unsuitable moment to anger his father. -His choice would anger not only his father, but the whole clique. He was -well aware of that. What a lunatic world! What a compulsion! Under other -circumstances, he would have been more than willing to renounce all the -prerogatives of his rank, in order, without further dissimulation, to -follow the dictates of his heart as a private citizen. But the question -for him did not merely concern an empty title and the insignificant -gratifications connected with it; it was perhaps a question of an actual -position of power in which he could do immeasurable public service. Even -if he did not attain the crown, it would nevertheless be necessary to -retain his rank and his influence for the furtherance of the mission -entrusted to him by Toker. If he now should fall out with his family and -the people of his own class, how could he then carry on a propaganda -among them for the objects of the conspiracy? It was a complicated -situation—no single direct aim for his duties and desires. But supreme -in his heart, his fancy, his very blood, was still the image of the -lovely Franka, and there was the hot desire to hold her in his arms. - -With quick steps and a mind deeply disturbed, he covered the short -distance back to the Rose-Palace. He found the door to Franka’s -apartments open; the anteroom was empty, and he knocked at the salon -door and entered. - -Frau von Rockhaus came to meet him: “Oh, Your Royal Highness....” - -“May I speak with Fräulein Garlett?” - -“Franka is not at home. How sorry she will be—” - -“No, no, my dear lady, she must not be denied to me.... I must speak -with her—it is too important.” - -“On my word of honor, she is not in. She went out a quarter of an hour -ago with Miss Toker. She did not go down to the déjeuner, and so Miss -Toker came to see what had become of her and persuaded her to take a -drive—the fresh air would do her good.” - -“Then I will wait till she returns.” - -“The two ladies will not be back before five o’clock. Their intention -was to go to a place of resort, quite a distance away.” - -“What was the name of the place?” - -“I do not remember the name.” - -Victor Adolph suppressed a curse. This was too unfortunate. So, then, he -would have to leave the town without seeing her again.... He begged -permission to write a few lines for the young lady. Frau Eleonore -conducted him to the writing-table, and provided him with paper. He -began to write, but his hand trembled so violently that the letters ran -together, and he could not collect his thoughts. He threw the pen aside, -crumpled up the sheet, and arose: “I prefer to write at home,” said he, -and hastily took his departure. - -In the quiet of his own room, he managed, after much consideration and -some false beginnings, to compose the following message:— - - - GNÄDIGES FRÄULEIN! - - As I have not as yet received a consenting answer to my question, I do - not venture to use any more intimate address. Frau von Rockhaus will - tell you that I came to see you. But she does not know how unhappy it - made me to miss you. A telegram from my father—which I inclose—compels - me to leave Lucerne by the five o’clock train. It is terrible to me - not to have had a chance to see you and talk with you before my - departure. I know that you are to remain in Lucerne for three or four - days longer. I hope sincerely that I can return—unless you forbid me. - In any case, wherever you are, pray let me know the place where I may - get the answer from you that will decide my fate. - - I still owe it to you to explain my circumstances and the conditions - which these circumstances impose upon me. This I can do only by word - of mouth. But I will repeat in writing what I said yesterday from an - overflowing heart: I love you and ask you to be my wife! - - VICTOR ADOLPH. - - Address: Royal Palace ——. - - -When Franka had returned from her excursion with Gwendoline, she found -the two letters. She read and re-read them, first hastily, then -deliberately, weighing every word and trying to find between the lines -what had gone forth from the hearts of the senders. From Victor -Adolph’s—although the conclusion of it confirmed the greatest proof of -love that a man can give a woman: the offer of his hand—there seemed to -emanate a cool breath; from Helmer’s, on the other hand,—although in it -he gave her away to another,—came forth something like a warm caress. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - A CORNUCOPIA FULL OF GIFTS - - -The next to the last evening of this Rose-Week was at hand. The -principal speaker was to be that young American, as yet unknown to the -great majority, to whom Helmer had referred when he said to the little -coterie at the hotel: “I know of things which are in preparation ... -there is in our midst an inventor, a conqueror....” - -In the hall great excitement reigned. The preliminary exercises, -although they were of the highest artistic excellence, had been listened -to with but half an ear. Only when the American had taken his place at -the reading-desk did the public experience that piquant satisfaction -which one expresses in the three words: “Now it is coming!” - -Franka did not come down until just before the recess; she took her -place in a somewhat remote and dimly lighted corner. But Helmer caught -sight of her and hastened to her. She was alone. Frau Eleonore, -afflicted with a bad headache, had gone to bed. - -Franka offered Helmer her hand: “Thank you for your letter, Brother -Chlodwig. Sit down with me.” And she made room for him on the small sofa -on which she was seated. “But tell me how you knew that the prince—” - -“He himself told me so.” - -“That he was betrothed to me?” - -“That he had proposed to you ... and now he has been compelled to go -away.” - -“You know that, too?” - -“He told me this in a note. This is really sad for both of you.” - -“He will be back again.” - -“Back here? But you were intending to return to Austria after the -Rose-Week....” - -“But he might come to Austria.” - -“Of course.” - -Both were silent. Helmer himself did not understand how it was possible -for him to speak with her so calmly and not to show any sign of the -mighty feelings that were tormenting him. However, he had actually -become more composed in her presence—such loftiness and purity radiated -from her that covetous emotions and jealous ideas were banished from her -vicinity. He enveloped her in a gentle, affectionate glance. How -beautiful she was in her flowing white robe with the modest bunch of -violets at her breast, and the proud string of pearls around her neck! -yes, proud and modest she was, and thus she adorned herself. - -For a time she met his eyes. There lay in them the same delicate, -affectionate caress that she had detected between the lines of his -letter. Then she broke the silence. - -“I like your fraternal letters. Always, when a fateful hour is striking -for me, comes such a letter and brings me comfort, stimulus, warning, or -blessing, as it happens. And in such symbolical language: at one time, -you hand me shield and spear, and this time it was myrtle and the bridal -veil. Yet you did not say that; you carefully avoid such banal figures -of speech!” - -“Carefully? No: he who is tormented by fear of commonplaces can never be -true and simple. Tell me, Franka, also quite truly and simply, how do -you feel in view of this turn in your fate?” - -Franka deliberated. Then with a deep breath: “How do I feel about it? -Truly, that is not so simple to say. Such remarkable experiences have -come to me ... in what I have gone through this week: it is not merely -one, there are ten emotions. Just as after a convulsion of nature, -islands are suddenly surging up, mountains are toppled over, so has my -earth-surface been transformed. The Garlett career has been drowned.... -Franka’s love-life has come to the surface.” - -“Franka’s love-life ...” repeated Helmer slowly and softly. - -“But that is not all,” continued Franka; “so much that is new has surged -into my spiritual life. My conception of life has altered, has widened; -I have seen such magnificent, such tremendous things arise, things still -unsuspected by any of us. And in the measure as my conception of life -has grown, the little Ego has shrivelled up. And what this poor little -Ego can do for the incomprehensible giant ‘world’ seems so insignificant -to it that it recalls that, after all, it is a part of the universe, a -tiny part endowed with a right to happiness. Every man has two souls in -his breast, which take counsel and struggle with each other, and say: ‘I -claim my right.’” - -“Yes, I understand.... Then the one Franka does what the other wants, -and—a third person is blessed.” - -The conversation was interrupted: Baron Malhof joined them, and so it -became three-cornered. And then the young American began to speak, and -all stopped talking and listened. - -His first words were:—“I bring gifts!”—then he made a brief pause:—“A -cornucopia of gifts: immeasurable riches for you, for all the world!” - -Again he paused for a while, and just as he began, so he continued his -discourse in paragraphs separated by brief pauses, and the paragraphs -marked by concise sentences. - -“You who will receive these gifts will not exult like children around a -Christmas tree. Children receive what they comprehend, what they have -been wanting, what they immediately use. The new things that I bring -will be slow in becoming understood: likewise slow in spreading and -winning appreciation. Many will indifferently push them aside; many will -even resist them. Whatever destroys the beaten track—the customary -habits of thought and of action—people avoid. A Japanese proverb says: -‘An evil which has lasted two years becomes a necessity.’ - -“I bring riches. But our society is schooled to poverty and want; it is -built up on these. Especially for the rich, their existence seems -indispensable. Performance of the baser necessary functions, stimulus to -progress: on this the social usefulness of poverty is founded; -opportunity for the preaching of contentment, for the giving of alms, so -certain to bring one to heaven—these advantages of poverty are -becomingly treasured by the rich. When I tell these rich men that there -can be riches for all, this disturbs their circle, and they reply -indignantly: ‘Sheer fancy! Utopia! Humbug!’ The poor and wretched are -not quite so entranced with the advantages and amenities of poverty -which appeal so forcibly to the well-to-do. And whenever they do not -belong to the great majority of the dully resigned, they strive to -remedy it by planning a new division of the property extant, or a change -in the economic system. - -“You all know what this attempt is called. But do not be alarmed—I am -not going to preach socialism. Division and control of property belong -to another field. Here I am speaking of the increase of property: an -increase so infinitely great that it leaves no place at all for want. - -“Possibly, by application of common sense and justice, it might be -feasible, even with the materials in our possession, to banish -wretchedness from the world. Whether the existing unreason and injustice -would not maintain poverty even when superabundance were obtained—who -knows? Certainly not for any length of time. - -“More than ten years ago, the tidings of Luther Burbank’s miracles in -the cultivation of plants was communicated to the world. This man -succeeded in cultivating, on his lonely California farm, varieties of -vegetables and fruits of a size never before known, and he managed to -rid of its spines a kind of cactus which grows in the most arid sands of -the desert and so make it edible for man and beast. - -“Does not that sound like a dry botanical fact, interesting only to a -few truck-gardeners, but sure to leave the great mass of the people -indifferent? The world did remain unmoved: a couple of illustrated -articles in family magazines, causing a few readers to shake their heads -dubiously,—‘Strawberries as big as a child’s head, stoneless plums, -spineless cactuses—remarkable!’—and then it was all forgotten. - -“Would you not have thought there would be a cry of jubilation from one -end of the world to the other: ‘What—we can compel Nature to new gifts, -we can bring forth provender and food in such quantities! We can make -the deserts and rocky soil to provide us with such cheap harvests that -the evil demons, Hunger and Famine, will be banished forever from the -earth!’ No, the readers of the family magazines did not see so far. - -“Human art creating species, giant species,—is that a mere trifle? Are -we not on the way to becoming gods, when we conquer the mysterious power -from which flows new life in new forms? - -“But wait! We are still far distant from that. Our moral will still -stands much below our physical power. Our colleague, Chlodwig Helmer, -has attached this reproach to the conquest of the air, and with equal -justice this same reproach can be made to our conquest of the hidden -creative forces of the earth. We master the technical, the mechanical, -the physical—but where remains the uplift and the depth? Where remains -the exultant comprehension of the miracle, where the ecstasy? - -“Certainly, those inventions are not passing without any notice. -Professionals have busied themselves with them. Capitalists have made -use of them; first in small concerns, then gradually in great -corporations—but always for the advantage of the exploiters. There are -already stretches of the Sahara given over to culture of the Opuntia -cactus; there are California vegetable-gardens, raising the giant -cabbage, and a lively export trade is carried on with it, made very -difficult, however, by the customs restrictions hastily imposed: the -poor lands must still be forefended against overabundance—they must -never be swamped with cheap foreign products. _Divitiae ante portas._... -An agrarian ‘Marseillaise’ will soon be sung with a fiscal rattle of -drums: ‘_Aux tarifs, citoyens!_’” - -“Oh, dear!” whispered Malhof, who was a warm advocate of protectionism; -“the man comes out for free trade. Is that also to be a part of High -Thinking?” - -Helmer nodded: “Certainly. Freedom belongs to the highest concepts.” - -“I also prize freedom, especially in love!” said Malhof; “but in the -domain of political economy—” - -Franka uttered a warning: “_Sh!_” She wanted to hear the address. - -The speaker went on to say:— - -“A strange error has been holding and still largely holds men in its -toils: The belief that the good things of this world are to be had in a -constant and limited quantity; he who would have anything must take it -from some one else; every man can get more only at the expense of some -one else who gets less. And thus, all practical self-seeking, all -ethical altruism, all political-economical wisdom is confined to the -rearrangement, the redivision, the stealing, and the giving away of the -whole existent mass. This error in its most primitive form engendered -the battle for the fertile soil: every consumer left dead was a gain for -the hungry survivors. At the first beginnings, the belief that the good -things were limited in quantity was by no means a heresy ... nothing at -all was produced. In later times, however, such an increase in the -general store of wealth has come about that no one any longer would have -needed to starve had not limited exchange, unjust division, and -senseless waste assured the continuance of poverty! The worse waste -consists in the nations’ spending two thirds of their wealth in making -preparations to annihilate the other third. - -“O Stupidity, mighty sovereign, thy empire is abysmally deep! We know -well that the common possession has greatly increased, but still we say -to ourselves: ‘Not enough, not enough!’ And still we think that property -is a thing which may be looted and must be defended. And still we -believe that any one can win only in proportion as another loses! - -“But now something has been brought forth amongst us which certainly is -as splendid as the conquest of the air: this which is to be announced -now by me—this is the secret concealed in my hand like a costly present, -with which I shall give you a great surprise.” - -He took a step nearer to the edge of the platform and held out his right -hand tightly closed toward the audience. All eyes and all glasses were -directed to him, as if they expected to see some kind of a wonder-bird -fly from his fist. His face looked also so promising,—there was a -victorious smile hovering over his lips. It was a typical American face: -smooth-shaven, with firmly chiseled features of Napoleonic cast, clear -eyes, and glistening teeth. He opened his hand with a gesture of -giving:— - -“I bring you the news that we are able to increase and enlarge our -common fund—increase it infinitely beyond all our needs, beyond all our -powers of imagination. Rejoice, all ye who are here present, and all ye -whom in the outside world my words may reach, among whom surely there -are many poor and heavy-laden! Rejoice—we are all winners of the great -prize! Some time will, indeed, elapse before the prize is paid over, -but, all the same, the lucky numbers are drawn! - -“Let me explain: Wealth consists not only in sufficient quantities of -victuals,—although it would be a fine result if abundance of that should -prevail in all places,—but it also consists in a thousand other products -of human labor. On the whole, wealth is the product only of labor, not -of money. Money is merely a conventional medium of exchange, nothing -more. Its value is regulated by the abundance or the scarcity of what is -on hand. Where there is no production, and therefore nothing on hand, -then even the heaviest gold-piece has no value. Without labor nothing is -produced; even the planting and the harvesting and the use of the -spineless cactus demand the power of labor; and how much more of it is -needed for the creation of a thousand things which beautify and -alleviate the lives of the rich—buildings, works of art, means of -intercourse, materials, implements, machinery. To have an abundance of -all these things, what quantities of work—hence of working power—is -needed! Do we possess a sufficiency of that? - -“Now, then,”—again he extended his arm and opened his hand as if he were -flinging something into the hall,—“now, then, here is another gift: the -message of an increase of the universal treasure of working power—an -increase beyond all necessities, beyond all our flights of imagination. -What we need is a pitcher full, and what will be at our disposal is an -ocean! - -“This is not the place or the hour to make physical demonstrations in -order to prove what I say. You must take my word for it. In a pamphlet, -prepared for the occasion and containing all the practical details, you -will find the clear technical and mathematical proofs. A copy of this -pamphlet will be handed to each one present. Here and now I will only -bring the fact to your knowledge that of late a new series of -discoveries and inventions have been made. I will tell you of these and -of the results which are expected to flow from them. Of some of them I -myself have been the fortunate originator, others proceed from others. I -shall mention no names, but merely explain the things themselves:—no, -not explain,—bring them before you.” - -The speaker made a long pause during which the pamphlet, printed in -three languages, was distributed. A loud buzz of remarks exchanged, -mingled with the rustle of turning leaves, arose. The excitement had -been growing more intense from the beginning; there was a general -expectation of something solemn, revolutionary, joy-conferring. - -This word “general” can scarcely be said to include the dyed-in-the-wool -conservatives, who were present in no small numbers; to such people new -inventions are a torment—they antagonize and belittle them as much as -possible; they are filled with distrust and depreciation in the presence -of innovations—the new jolts; the new is dangerous. Not as yet perished -from the face of the earth is the race of those who opposed the -introduction of the railway on the ground that the trade between -Grossmeseritsch and Jungbunzlau might suffer! - -“Now what is he going to bring us—you probably know, Herr Helmer.” - -Chlodwig stared up as from a dream. “What? who?” He had not taken the -drift of Baron Malhof’s question; moreover, he had barely heard that man -yonder on the platform, so deeply had he been absorbed all the time in -studying Franka’s face and his own feelings. He, who had before been so -passionately interested in the events of the world, he who in other -circumstances would have listened with the keenest interest to the -stimulating words of the young American, was now so completely under the -spell of the two passions—jealousy and love—that everything else sank -into a dim mist. Franka also was only partially attentive to what was -going on. To be sure, she had listened to the conclusions of the -lecturer, but in the background of her thoughts she was ceaselessly -engaged with the questions of her destiny now so imperatively facing -her, and the more the man on the platform spoke of the treasures of -happiness beckoning to human society, the more insistent within her grew -the demand that she herself should drain happiness in long draughts, and -bestow happiness in lavish generosity, united to the man she loved.... - -Again the young inventor took up his theme:— - -“Radium has been known since the year 1900. Its marvelous properties -were gradually discovered. The possibility that this element which, from -its rarity, at first cost a hundred dollars a milligram, might be -obtained in large quantities, dates from yesterday. This furnishes us -with a source of power beyond comprehension. A profusion of force has -been placed at our disposal so that all efficacy of work can be -multiplied a hundred fold, a thousand fold, a hundred thousand fold. - -“No figure need alarm us any more when we experience what molecular -forces exist in this radiant matter. Every molecule has minute -particles, atoms; the atoms of radium are thrown out with the rapidity -of twenty thousand miles a second. Can you picture to yourself the -weight of the impact? - -“Not only can we procure this in masses—this fabulous element—but we can -compress it. The radium condenser has been invented. It will be mere -child’s play to annihilate in a few minutes hostile fleets and armies, -to destroy hostile cities by means of packages of radium-beams sent down -from cloudy altitudes. Reciprocally, forty-eight hours after the -so-called ‘opening of hostilities’ both warring parties might vanquish -each the other and leave in the enemy’s land not a building and not a -living thing.” - -The speaker paused and looked around. Then he apostrophized his -auditors:— - -“Ladies and gentlemen, you are certainly astonished that I here announce -a present of the good things of this world and thereupon spread before -you such a vision of horrors. Merciful Heaven! I do not say that these -things are to be, but that you can do them if you desire. It remains -within your choice and your will to make use of destructive -possibilities or not. Power and force, a force approaching -almightiness—is that not a wonderful possession? It would not be an -almighty power if it had not also the capacity of working the utmost -iniquity and the limit of imbecility. If I could have presented you with -Aladdin’s lamp whose slaves carry out every command, these slaves would -infallibly murder you if that command were given them. But I take it for -granted that you would utter quite different wishes. - -“Aye, the obedient Genii of the radium-lamp, the fluorescing electrons, -can annihilate, destroy, and exterminate; but at our bidding they will -annihilate bacteria, destroy the germs of disease, put an end to the -weakness of old age—but they are not going to annihilate cities and -useful lives. For the very reason that they are capable of carrying out -to its ultimate absurdity the aims of war, their annihilating powers are -not going to have as their offering the crumbling into ruins of human -society, but the shattering of the idol, Mars. - -“I have not come to the end of my gifts: The latest inventions include -the wireless transmission of the electric current; and this: the -electrical fertilization of the soil; and this: the direct -transformation of the heat of the sun into mechanical energy. We have -the sun-motor. Have you a suspicion of what that signifies? The primeval -source of all life, the storehouse of all power, the hot sun-ray -captured in our pocket apparatus! - -“Even now, I have not done with my gifts. This time it is only a few -trifles, just as on the Christmas tree next some precious jewel hangs a -little bag of chocolate bonbons. We are now able to fly through the air -almost as do birds. One of my fellow-countrymen has invented a -contrivance—he calls it the ‘Nautilus’—in which we can glide through the -water like a fish without the slightest exertion, with torpedo-like -swiftness. Provided with the Nautilus one can go from Calais to Dover in -a quarter of an hour. This has the advantage over travel through the -air: one cannot fall into the water! - -“Then—one more bonbon—a dynamic marvel of an apparatus—the inventor has -given it the name of ‘Talmi Athlete.’ With this, bound around the wrist, -the weakest man can lift and carry the heaviest burden. - -“Still another bonbon! The ear-spectacles: a little instrument with -which the deaf can hear as well as the near-sighted can see with glasses -of high power. - -“And still another and marvelously sweet bonbon—the inventor has called -it a ‘Paradise Air-Bath’: a cabinet is filled with an artificially -compounded atmosphere: ozone, compressed resinous air, tempered -electrical waves, pungent carbonic acid, and a hitherto unknown -material. Whoever enters this cabinet is permeated by that physical, -causeless feeling of happiness such as the mountain-climber experiences -on the top of the Alps, the child at play, the young person dancing: -quickened pulses, heightened heart-action, expanded lungs—in short, -intense joy of life. - -“But to return to the mighty powers we have conquered. The question of -first importance is not the creating of new possibilities of -enjoyment,—the well-to-do already have a sufficiency of such things,—but -rather the abolition of misery: the physical moral atmosphere of the -rich would also be purified by this, since at the present time -deleterious vapors of crime and illness mount up into it from the caves -of poverty. We have penetrated into the bowels of the earth and have -brought to light whole cargoes of radium. We have constructed the -condenser, and now we have in our hands the mysterious and almost -unlimited creative power which decides death and life.—Everything on -which the death-dealing ray is directed, is irrevocably lost—whether it -be a colony of microbes or a whole province. We can accomplish death by -wholesale; we can strengthen the development of life. Radium can hasten -the growth of plants threefold and make them thrice as large; it can -also retard growth. According to the way it is applied, the -wonder-element is the awakener of life-energy, or cripples it. We shall -be enabled by means of it to lengthen the span of human life; we shall -be able—but now I will desist. The line of consequences which follow a -newly accomplished advance is inconceivable. The gold ingot lies before -you—now go hence and coin it!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - FRANKA DECIDES HER FATE - - -The next morning, Helmer had arranged to be at Franka’s at half-past -eleven. After the American’s address, she had retired, and in bidding -him goodnight, she had asked Helmer to come to see her the following -morning. It was to be the last day of the Rose-Week, and she desired to -consult with him about the journey and other plans for the immediate -future. She had long been accustomed to ask Brother Chlodwig’s advice at -the crucial moments of her life. - -About nine o’clock in the morning, Helmer left the house to take his -last walk to his favorite spot. He looked forward not without anxiety to -the promised call upon Franka. The self-control which it cost him in -repressing the ebullition of his feelings would be put to a severe test -once more. For the moment, it impelled him to seek that forest quietude -where he had already spent so many dreamy hours with Franka’s image -before his eyes.... But then she was, if not his Franka, at least not as -yet another’s. - -It was a clear summer day; but in the forest, shady and cool; especially -in that place where Helmer was accustomed to retire, the impression of -freshness was intensified by the murmuring brook and by a spring which -burst forth from a mossy rock and ran foaming and bubbling down in a -series of little waterfalls. Through the lofty, thick tree-tops the -sun’s rays could scarcely make their way, but here and there gleams of -light fell golden along the tree-boles, making circlets on the ground -and kindling sparks in the pellucid waters of the brook and the spring. -Helmer selected a spot at the edge of a little wood-encircled meadow, -abounding in flowers and tall grasses, and sat down at the foot of a -lofty oak tree. For a time he let his thoughts run on and drank in the -sweetness of the peaceful forest. Then he took out his notebook. He felt -the impulse to write a few verses which might perpetuate the mood which -this modest idyl had produced in his mind—a mood of calm enjoyment of -nature, commingled with the sorrow of love’s renunciation. - -But before he had written a line, he looked down the path by which he -had come and saw a figure, clad in white, approaching. Was it possible? -He sprang up and hastened to meet her. - -“Franka!” - -Yes, it was she. Chance had not brought her to that spot. She also had -felt the call of the forest, and she had seen Helmer a hundred paces -ahead of her slowly strolling along. “Let him be my guide,” she had said -to herself, and followed him, not diminishing the distance between them. -Now he reached his goal; she saw him sit down in the grass and prepare -to write; by this time, however, she had caught up with him, and now -they were face to face. She stretched out her hand in greeting. - -“How fine that we should meet here! We can have our little consultation -now. It is far more lovely than in the house.” - -Chlodwig controlled his inward emotion and offered her his arm: “Shall -we not walk a little farther? I will take you to a place where we can -get a wonderfully fine view.” - -“No, no; let us stay here; you have chosen a perfectly beautiful spot. -You sit down where you were, under that tree, and I will find a place -near.... I just love to sit in the grass.” - -He required no second bidding and led her to the oak. There he installed -her where he had been, so that she could lean her back against the tree, -and he threw himself down at full length at her feet. Supporting himself -on his elbow he leaned his chin on his hand and gazed up at her. - -She was dressed wholly in white: also the shoes on her little feet -peeping out from under her skirt were white. She took off her hat. As -she had become somewhat heated by the walk her cheeks and lips glowed -and she looked remarkably young. Her eyes rested on Chlodwig’s face. How -could she have ever regarded him as ugly? An expression of sorrow -trembling about his lips gave his features a noble pathos; and a gentle -affectionateness was expressed in his eyes—certainly the reflection of -his chief characteristic—goodness. He also had taken off his hat: she -now noticed, for the first time, how very thick and wavy was the -short-cropped hair on his head. - -He was the first to speak: “Well, what now? Is this to be our parting -hour? Are our ways to separate now, forever?” - -“Separate!... for always?... Certainly not.... Helmer, answer me one -question. Until now, you have always talked with me about myself, never -about your own life, about your endeavors and wishes. If I did not know -you from your ‘Schwingen,’ I should scarcely have had a glimpse into -your soul.” - -“What do you want to ask, Franka?” - -“It is not a very discreet question, but I want to know one thing.... -Are you ... have you a ... have you any ties, that bind you?” - -“You mean a betrothed, a sweetheart? No, I am free from such ties.” - -“Then you are heart-free?” - -“Did I say that? For God’s sake, let us talk about you again—not about -me. The question now concerns your fate, your future—” - -Franka nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, that is the question.” - -“Then let us talk about it. Shall you remain in Lucerne? Shall you wait -here for the return of the prince, or shall you go back to Austria, and -is he to come and find you there? That would seem more fitting.” - -“Would seem more fitting....” repeated Franka in a low tone, -abstractedly. It was as if she were thinking of something else and -repeated mechanically what had been said, only in order to say -something. - -“Shall you go to one of your estates?” continued Helmer. “The château on -your Moravian property, for example, would make a fine setting.” - -“A setting for what scene? Would you like to come to my Moravian -property, too, Helmer?” - -He shook his head vigorously. Franka proceeded:— - -“In the forest skirting the garden, you would find places similar to -this: there also flows a brook; there also springs gush out of the -moss-covered stones.” - -She pulled off her glove and laid her slender white hand on Chlodwig’s -shoulder: “Will you go with me to my Moravian château?” - -He shrank under the touch. “I? I should not dare to; I could not.” - -“Why not?” And she increased the pressure on his shoulder. - -There was no help for it—the impulse was stronger than he. He seized the -dear hand and kissed it passionately on the palm which he pressed to his -face. Then he sprang to his feet and leaned against the tree under which -Franka was sitting. He looked down upon her as she had just before -looked down on him. Her features betrayed no sign of anger—on the -contrary, they were brightened by a gentle smile. - -“You ask why I cannot come, why I dare not—very well, I will tell you. I -wanted to hide it from you forever, but now you must know it—I love you, -Franka! I have always loved you from the first hour. But always you have -been and are the unattainable, the unapproachable! Even if the high -destiny to win you had fallen to no one else, I should never have dared -raise my desires to your starry distance.... I knew you would sometime -be another’s, and when such a brilliant and worthy suitor drew near you, -I almost made it easier for him. But now, when Fate has actually brought -to you what I had dreamed might be yours, I am the prey of wild -jealousy.... If you knew what I have suffered during the past days.... I -shall fight it down, I shall certainly conquer it, but I must avoid your -presence and I dare not be the witness of his happy love:—that would -drive me mad! Since this adoration which I have kept for years like a -religion, so to speak, has been goaded by jealousy, such a fire, such a -fierce, agonizing craving has taken its place.... Oh, I am confessing -too much.... Why do you let me speak so, Franka?—Why do you look at me -with that strange smile?... Am I ridiculous?... That must not be! My -love is not a funny thing.... It comes to me as too great, too sacred! -When we shall be separated, and when years pass, it may change—and I -hope it will—into warm friendship again. Then you can summon me ... to -your royal court.... I shall keep my courage.... I am no sentimental boy -who goes to destruction or commits suicide because of disappointment in -love. I have my art and great tasks still beckon to it, and I still have -a mission to fulfill.... But now, now, Franka, I am profoundly -unhappy.... What self-control I have to exercise, not to seize you and -for once, only once, hold you close in my arms, only once press my -lips....” - -Franka stood up. Chlodwig raised his hands imploringly:— - -“No, do not hasten away; be assured.... I know what is due to you. Never -must you think of Brother Chlodwig with regret or anger.” - -But Franka had no thought of escaping. With the enigmatical smile still -on her lips, she came quite close to him, flung both arms around his -neck, and with a little cry hid her face on his heart. Something like an -electric shock went through him. He pressed her to his heart:— - -“Franka, thou only one, thou great-hearted, thou generous....” he -stammered. - -It seemed to him that this was a gift which she was offering him in -token of farewell—the indelible remembrance of a blissful moment. As he -held her there in his arms, a cuckoo’s note sounded in the distance. -Franka raised her head as if to listen; then her lover’s lips found -hers. - -Twelve times the cuckoo called; when he ceased, Franka released herself. -She sank down into her former place in the grass, and with a gesture -invited Helmer to sit by her side. - -“Now let us talk, Chlodwig,” she said; “now let us make plans for the -future!” And she snuggled up close to his shoulder. “Now all doubts are -solved: now the world belongs to us—this beautiful, splendid world!...” - -He grew dizzy. “Franka, how am I to understand this?” - -“How?” She laid her hand in his—“That I am thine forever.” - -“Franka—is it possible? The Unattainable, the Unapproachable will be my -own, my wife?” - -“Aye, that she will.” - -“And the prince?” - -“I had not accepted his hand. I shall write him a line to-day:—‘My heart -is not free’!” - -“Because it belongs to me?” - -“Yes, to you, Chlodwig!” - -“I cannot realize the joy of it!” - -He wanted to kiss her again, but she evaded it: “Only when the cuckoo -calls,” she said, laughing. “Now we must make our plans.” - -“Will you not regret it? Will not Victor Adolph be in despair?” - -“I think not. It will more likely be a relief to him; for the sacrifice, -the hindrances ... all that sort of thing has been a burden to him, and -hurt my pride. I want the gift of myself to....” - -“Insure absolute happiness, celestial bliss,” interrupted Helmer, -completing her sentence; “to make the man who receives this gift feel -like a king and be a Crœsus....” - -“And do you feel all that, Chlodwig?” - -“That and more besides than I can tell. You must know that speech has no -satisfactory expression, for our highest emotions—poets do their best to -compass it, and therefore they strive by means of rhyme and rhythm to -give pinions to speech—but it is all in vain.” - -“Still I am going to try,” said Franka, “to describe how I feel: without -rhythm and without rhyme, perhaps not even very coherently; but you will -certainly understand me. It belongs to my treasure of happiness, this -knowledge, that you understand and always will understand what I feel in -the deepest depths of my soul. And I understand thee, my poet, my -teacher, my beloved. So then, listen, thou who art wont to speak in -figures; with two little pictures I can give the whole enigma of my -happiness: a haven and a chest. The haven is—” - -The explanation was interrupted: for once more and this time much nearer -the cuckoo began to call. At the same instant Helmer’s kiss was glowing -on her mouth. After the third note, the cuckoo ceased. Franka released -herself, but the complaisant bird began again, and when he ceased the -second time, Helmer permitted his tremulous but willing prisoner to -escape from his arms. - -“You see, Love has far more intelligible means of expression than words; -but now go on with what you were going to say: the haven is—” - -Franka drew a tremulous sigh and passed her hand over her -forehead. “Yes, I know—the haven is the sweet security of being -protected.—Whatever may come—I am safe!” - -“And the chest?” - -“Oh, yes, the chest?—that is as yet firmly locked ... but I have got the -key. Treasures are in it, that I am sure of—bills of exchange, letters -of credit on the great bank of the future. We two united!... Just think -of all that we can draw upon it for all the great and little joys of -life even till old age! We who are so congenial, traveling together, -working together, furnishing a home together....” - -“A home which will perhaps embrace more than two!” suggested Helmer. - -“... Living together—the joys and the sorrows that when transformed into -recollections we can store away in the chest. But as yet I have not -opened it. Further treasures are hidden there—I do not as yet know -them ... glowing red rubies which I have never adorned myself with. Yet, -quite lately, an inkling of it has been disclosed to me by one....” - -“One? Who?” demanded Helmer, with new-awakened jealousy. - -“Who?” She smiled. Then, deliberately and in a whisper: “The cuckoo.” - -“Oh, thou—” And the answer was just as if the bird had again uttered his -enticing call. Through the tree-tops sighed a gentle breeze which, laden -with the perfume of spicy herbs and ripe strawberries, fanned and cooled -the glowing cheeks of the lovers. - -“Now, then,” exclaimed Franka, after she had again freed herself, “let -us make our plans.” - -“But first let me say something.... Also in figures—you know my -weakness—and if at this moment the pictures did not rise up before -me....” - -“Then you would be no poet! But why invent at a moment when reality is -so super-earthly?” - -“Super-earthly certainly, but not super-cosmic. Whoever feels and makes -any one feel so happy, so superhuman, works in the service of a cosmic -factory. There a magnificent material is woven from star to star, from -eternity to eternity out of fine glittering threads. These threads are -called ecstasies, pleasures, joys, the very greatest and likewise the -very tiniest joys. Every living thing experiencing this serves as a -shuttle for this loom.” - -“And what becomes of the material, oh, my metaphorical poet?” - -“God makes his royal mantle out of it.” - -“Lovely!” exclaimed Franka. “Still,” she added, shaking her head gently; -“you employ very old material for hewing your images: God as king—in -that figure I do not recognize my bold modern thinker.” - -“Solid material is required for hewing images. The new thoughts are for -the most part as yet lacking in consistency, gaseous, so to speak; one -cannot make any images out of them. But, dearest, let us not talk any -more about generalities now, when we are breathing in the midst of such -concrete beauty touching us both; at this moment when everything lying -outside of ‘thee and me’ sinks into nothingness. For heaven’s sake, let -us not indulge in subtleties and let us not be deep! We have the right -to lose ourselves in the regions of the higher folly! We have the still -higher right to be—silent!” - -“I will not be silent,” cried Franka. “I must shout it out that I am -happy, happy, happy!” And in saying this she flung her arms up into the -air. “Oh how many times have I heard that word, read it, spoken it, -and—to-day, for the first time, I know what it means.” - -Approaching voices and steps were heard. Their moment of blessed -solitude was past. - -Franka hastily snatched up her hat from the ground. “Come, let us go -before these odious persons find us here.” - -“May the cuckoo fly off with them!” cried Helmer in vexation. - -“But, Chlodwig,” exclaimed Franka reproachfully, “how can you put such a -burden on our beloved bird?” - -“You are right! Holy cuckoo, forgive me!” - -“Now, you know, holiness is not the right term for him. I have heard -many things to his prejudice ... he is said to have no family -sentiment....” - -“Oh, there, he does not need Philistine virtues. He is a kind of forest -magician and consequently superior to civil morals.” - -“Just as a poet laureate is superior to provincial rulers?” - -Thus laughing and jesting, they walked for a while side by side; but -once their eyes met, and a sudden earnestness spread over their -features; on their silent lips trembled something akin to pain; they had -simultaneously discovered that between them hovered something like the -spirit of consecration, awe-inspiring, something like an emanation from -the mystical source of being:—Love!—something under whose breath jests -and laughter seem as inappropriate as under the breath of that other -solemn mystery—Death. What they had seen in each other’s eyes permeated -them with a thrill of devotion, and they walked for a long distance in -silence; yet by their arms they still exchanged the pressure significant -of affection. - -Only when their path turned into a frequented place in Lucerne was this -magic mood dispelled. They came to an aeroplane-hangar. - -Franka paused:— - -“Chlodwig, grant me one wish—let us take a little air-trip together. I -have never been in an aeroplane and I should like to make my first -ascent with you; and to-day especially ... this very moment.... I feel a -great thirst for the heights, don’t you?” - -“I? No. My most burning thirst you have—I mean the cuckoo has—quenched! -But if it would give you a pleasure—I am ready for it. Let us fly!” - -He made the arrangements with one of the pilots, and a few moments later -the machine was speeding up with its passengers into the air. Franka at -that moment experienced a powerful shock rather psychical then physical. -Set free from the ground, hovering free, with reasonable velocity their -aeroplane swept up at a height of about ten metres. It was a quite -peculiar new sensation. Suddenly, however, the machine began to mount -and mount; not perpendicularly, but still preserving its forward motion, -until it had reached a height of some hundred metres. Franka could not -repress a cry. She had the impression that the aeroplane remained still -while everything else was sinking down. Into what depths fell the earth! -Ever wider became the view of the country gliding away beneath them, and -ever tinier little points—now trees, houses, like toys; men, like -ants—juggled together on it. - -Still higher went their flight. The mountains shrunk into flatness and -finally everything seemed to be a plain with black streaks—the forests; -a white pool—the lake; and winding ribbons—the roads. And as Franka was -not far-sighted, the whole picture swam in her vision into an empty gray -plain. She recalled her dream and that terrifying feeling of being alone -in space. But in sooth, she was not alone: her beloved was by her side. - -“Put your arm around me,” she besought him. And as soon as that firm -strong support went obliquely down from her shoulder embracing her -waist, it seemed to her exactly as in that dream—the blessed sense of -security that one is held and protected ... only this time with the -difference, that she now knew who that one was, and she thanked Heaven -that it was this one and not the other. She closed her eyes and bent her -head back. She looked so pale that Chlodwig was alarmed, and bade the -pilot to glide down and land them. Then Franka opened her eyes:— - -“No, no, not yet—it is splendid!” - -Her panic had vanished, and the peculiar fascinating intoxication of the -flight through the upper air had seized her. “Do not land yet! Tell him -to go in a wave-motion—up, down, up—down so that I may feel the -sensation of flying, that I may know that we are flying.” - -“Aren’t you frightened, my love,—you are so pale—” - -“No, not afraid—only this new experience is so surprising, so -overpowering—it is the fulfillment of a dream. Isn’t it delightful?” - -“Oh, yes, the human race might, indeed, be proud of the heights which it -has attained, if at the same time it had not remained so abject! Yet -have patience—our watchword still is—‘_Excelsior!_’” - -After another quarter of an hour, in which they had their heart’s -content of mounting and descending, of gliding and curving, the pilot -directed his aerial car to the landing-place and the two happy -passengers dismounted. - -They proceeded to the Rose-Palace on foot. Frau Eleonore came to meet -them, as they walked along the terrace. - -“At last!” she exclaimed; “I was beginning to be concerned about -you—lest something had happened, Franka.” - -“I can’t deny that something has happened to me!” - -“In Heaven’s name, what?” - -“You will find out soon enough. Let us go up!” - -She relinquished Helmer’s arm and took Frau Eleonore’s instead. -“Good-bye for now, Chlodwig; we shall meet at luncheon. I am going to -write Prince Victor Adolph now. Come, Eleonore!” And she pulled her -companion toward the entrance. - -Helmer bowed and went off in another direction. - -As soon as she reached her salon, Franka threw her hat and parasol down -and with a long, long breath sank into an easy-chair. - -Frau Eleonore took her place facing her. - -“Dear Franka, forgive me, but”—she was at a loss for the right words—“I -know you do not like me to be preaching ... but don’t you think that -such walks with Herr Helmer.... As far as I am concerned, it is -nothing.... I know what an old harmless friendship means ... but don’t -you think that perhaps the prince....” - -“Oh, thank you for reminding me of the prince—I must write to him. Has -any telegram come for me?” - -“No, but here is a letter from the Sielenburg.” - -Franka took the letter and tore open the envelope. “From Tante -Albertine.... I can’t make out the wriggly handwriting very well. Please -read the letter for me, Eleonore, will you?” - -“Willingly. But what I said just now ... you are not vexed with me, are -you?” - -“Really, I did not notice what you said....” - -“You seem very much disturbed. You have not told me as yet what happened -to you.” - -“Later, later—please read the letter first. Let us see what the good -auntie has to say.” - -Frau Eleonore read:— - - - MY DEAR CHILD! - - I have only just returned to the dear old Sielenburg, but I sit down - to write you a few lines to tell you that we made the journey without - mishap. Dear Adele is very much done up, to be sure, and quite cross; - the trip did not gratify her at all. I, too, am much pleased to be at - home again. Here we get so much of what we missed while away; for - instance, respectful treatment by people. Here we are addressed with - proper terms once again: “Kiss your hand,” or, “Saving your - grace”—that to Adele—or, “at your command,” while the Swiss are so - unmannerly; they called us “Madam,” and on the train one conductor - spoke to me as “a woman”! It was, indeed, out of politeness; he pushed - a passenger to one side, saying, “Let the woman pass.” I wanted to - tell him that I was nothing of the sort, but one can’t enter into - conversation with such clowns. - - We had to stay another day after our “P.P.C.” call on you—Coriolan got - the wrong tickets, and so we heard Helmer after all. It was so strange - to see Uncle Eduard’s former secretary up there among the celebrities. - He was so quiet at the Sielenburg, as if he could not count up to - five. I could not make out what he said—it was all such a - medley—exaggerated. He was always eccentric. He even presumed to cast - his eyes on you. Who knows how it would have ended if I had not—for - your advantage, you must know—upset his calculations and informed - Uncle Eduard in good time. I am proud of that even to-day. Take care - that he does not try his little game again; it might injure you with - the prince. - - -Frau Eleonore stopped her reading—“I agree with Fräulein Albertine about -that.” - -Franka shrugged her shoulders with annoyance:—“You must not be proud of -that.” - -Frau Eleonore went on with the letter:— - - - You ought to hear Cousin Coriolan’s opinion of Helmer—for he has a - correct judgment and is a gentleman through and through. He was not at - all enthusiastic over our stay at Lucerne; he declares he will never - again be induced to take such an exotic journey. Really, I had a - pretty good time; it was such a complete change; but I shall doubly - enjoy the quiet here. What pleased me most in Lucerne was the conquest - you made. Be very wise.... - - -“Is there any more of that?” interrupted Franka. - -“Four pages more.” - -“Then we will leave it until by and by: Now I am going to write to the -prince.... Eleonore, on the whole, I prefer to tell you now: I am -betrothed.” - -“Oh, you are?” exclaimed Frau Eleonore, her face radiant with joy. “And -why did you delay telling me till now? What good fortune! Only it is a -shame that he had to go away.” - -“My dear friend! You are under a wrong impression. Victor Adolph is not -my betrothed....” - -“Not the prince!” Her eyes grew gloomy, “Who then?” - -“It is not very hard to guess.” - -It certainly was not difficult, and Frau Eleonore was well aware who the -fortunate suitor was. In spite of the disappointment which it brought -her, she was too clever, and also too well disposed to Franka to betray -any dissatisfaction. To be sure, her dream of having the position of a -lady-in-waiting at court was dispelled, but she concealed her -disappointment:—“Chlodwig Helmer—is it, then?” she said. “Well, if you -love him, Franka, I wish you joy with all my heart.” - -“Yes, I love him.” - - -Half an hour later, the two ladies went down to the Toker luncheon. -Franka had in the mean time written the letter to Victor Adolph:—a -perfectly candid confession that she had already given her heart to -another man, and, moreover, her assurance that she perfectly well -realized what obstacles would have been put in the way of his life-work -and his lofty position if she had accepted his impulsive and far too -unpremeditated offer. - -Helmer came forward to meet Franka as she entered the dining-room. The -separation which had lasted at the most about an hour seemed to them -both frightfully long, and the joy of seeing each other again -accelerated the beating of their hearts. They sat at table side by side -as usual. After the last course, Helmer asked Franka whether they should -keep their happiness to themselves for a while, or communicate the news -to the Brotherhood of the Rose. “Oh, let them know about it! I should -like to have it shouted over the housetops!” - -Helmer stood up and tapped on his glass. - -“Hear, hear!” cried Toker. “In spite of the regulation forbidding formal -toasts at this table, our poet of the pinions seems desirous to offer -some one’s health. Well, to-day is our last meeting—give your eloquence -full rein, Mr. Helmer.” - -“I do not intend to make a speech. What you are going to hear from me, -Mr. Toker and Miss Toker, and all of you, brethren and sisters under the -token of the Rose, is merely a bit of family news. I have the feeling -that we all, during this delectable week, have become a sort of happy -family, and therefore I hope for your interest when I tell you that this -morning Franka Garlett and I were betrothed.” - -Gwendoline rushed to Franka and gave her a tumultuous embrace. After the -confusion of the universal congratulations had somewhat subsided, Toker -tapped three times on the table with the handle of his knife in order to -obtain a hearing:— - -“Under such extraordinary circumstances it is not only permitted, but it -is obligatory upon us to offer a toast. Let us greet it as a good omen -that in our serious community, gathered to enlarge the general realm of -High Thinking and thence of human welfare, two such noble hearts have -joined to win personal happiness by their love. Let us greet this as an -omen for the development of the coming race: if the custom obtain that -the champions of the most brilliant ideas, the possessors of the -greatest talents, in a word, the most splendid specimens of the human -race, come together as here, and fall in love, as our highly honored new -couple have done, and if they, as we hope even for this same bridal -pair, increase and multiply, then, after a few more generations, even -more fortunate results of careful breeding will be seen than our friend -Luther Burbank has obtained with his gigantic cabbages. Therefore, -proceed, Chlodwig and Franka, and found a home. That is, after all, the -most beautiful and most satisfying happiness to be found on -earth—however far and high our thoughts may soar and our exploits may be -carried, let us provide a warm, safe place of calmness and of love to -which we are all entitled. - -“We men have in these days imitated the most magnificent prerogative of -the birds—the art of flight. But let us never forget that other example -which these masters of heights and distances give us—the nest!” - - - - - FINALE - - -On this final evening of the Rose-Festival, all the guests were -assembled on the platform, the host in their midst. It had been -determined that on this last evening there should be no long addresses -by individual speakers, but that all the members of the Rose Order, -whether their voices had been heard during any of the sessions or not, -should make brief speeches to the audience: speeches in which, if -possible, by a few short sentences, each individual should declare what -was his loftiest aim in life and what he would most of all wish to have -carried away as a message to his fellow-men from that far-sounding -tribune. John Toker announced his programme to the public and added:— - -“We regard this last evening of ours as a special opportunity for us to -communicate with the outside world and to grasp in compact form the -things that have been revealed to us during this Rose-Week. - -“I will use this opportunity to comment on what we heard yesterday from -the mouth of my young fellow-countryman. He spread out before us a whole -cargo of precious gifts; he handed us a gigantic ingot of gold and said: -‘Go hence and coin it.’ - -“Now the question arises: ‘How?’ Above all, a new valuation is required -for the new coins which are to be minted. The whole system, the whole -principle on which the social life of the present time is built up, must -be invalidated so as to give place to another system, another principle. -Economical and political intercourse of men with one another at the -present time still rest on robbery, imposture, fraud, distrust, -unscrupulous extermination of competitors, and all this supported by the -spirit of envy, which runs through the whole gamut from ill will to -hatred. And do you know what we need in order to coin the new -currency?—the spirit of good will. And that is certain to come. It will -not create the new social intercourse, but it will grow out of the soil -of the changed circumstances, as ill will flourishes in the morass of -to-day. - -“Inestimable is what has been given to mankind by the unlimited control -of the powers of nature, creating wealth and labor; all the forces which -may be spent in doing mutual harm, in mutual attack and defense, in -deceiving, in betraying, in robbing, in destroying one another—all these -forces are now to be free for the common task of coining that ingot of -gold into current coin. - -“It will be no small trouble, no brief work, to reorganize the world on -this quite changed principle. Stupidity, routine, and malignity will -resist for a long time; but just as radium can annihilate microbes, so -will the radiant element of the human spirit, aroused to comprehension, -annihilate the microbes of malignity. We shall become healthy, -physically and spiritually. - -“I am glad that the awakening call, the shout of the herald, rings forth -from here. The tidings of triumph are to sound back from the victorious -van; a vast new country is ours; we must make it fertile; let us take -possession! - -“But to do so, the old methods and the old utensils are useless; we must -first train the whole race till it is fit for its new destiny. Practical -work must be expanded in this direction. May all those to whom our -summons comes, clearly ringing, gird their loins to take hold of this -work! Domestic colonization, garden-cities, hygiene along the whole -line, extermination of the last vestige of illiteracy. And then, high -schools will be established for the nurture of High Thinking and -world-journals will be founded for its propaganda. And temples will be -built dedicated to the cult of good will. - -“The problem must be worked out intensively, strenuously. It is not -sufficient that from here and there more ideas fly forth; ideas are all -right, for they are the seed from which things spring—but actually, what -now opens up before us consists already in things, and they demand to be -executed: above all, they want to be grasped. I intend to seize upon -them: as soon as I reach home, I intend to take measures to found the -free academy of High Thinking. May this become the mint which my young -friend requires for the store of gold which he displayed before our -eyes. - -“And now shall the knights of my Wartburg have their chance to speak. -Let Wolfram von Eschenbach begin—I mean you, Mr. Helmer.” - -Chlodwig stepped forward:— - -“I should like once more to sum up in a single sentence—if possible in a -single word—the substance of my whole poetic dream, of my whole vision -of the future. But here I find an obstacle in the limitations of -language, for it has as yet no words for the coming things that now only -project their shadows and are attainable only by longing and by -forebodings. The word always comes into existence after the thing. The -thing follows the conception, and this in turn is followed by the -expression. For example—first there had to be a knight and the especial -nature of his bearing and of his sentiments had to be conceived before -the term ‘knightly’ was adopted. - -“And thus before my vision stands the coming man—the man of the -heights—_der Höhenmensch_—whose qualities correspond to the magnificent -achievements which literally lift him above the clouds. What will be his -characteristic quality? The term for it does not as yet exist. For it -will not concern any peculiar quality already known to us, but rather a -combination of qualities to which will be added possibly one never -before discovered: the new combination will grow into a concept and the -concept will be grasped in one word—a word which will be as current -among our descendants and as clear to them as the word ‘knightly’ is to -us. I recently spoke of ‘goodness.’ This word, as it is used among us, -is far from expressing what my mind conceives of it. It is as yet, too, -incomposite. I should want to command a term in which, besides -‘goodness,’ much else would be understood—distinction, gentleness, -courage, good will, force, magnanimity—all in combination; and, -moreover, that soul-material which will come into activity by the new -impulses of the Age of Flying—this is to be the characteristic quality -of the ideal man of the future, but what its name will be, that we do -not know. - -“How the ideals of spiritual greatness change may be seen in a single -example: Vico, the founder of the philosophy of history, who wrote at -the end of the seventeenth century,—hence not so very long ago,—thus -described the heroes: ‘They were to the highest degree rough, wild, -limited in intelligence, but possessing enormous power of imagination -and the liveliest passionateness; as a consequence of these qualities -they had to be barbarous, cruel, wild, proud, difficult to deal with.’ - -“That was the picture of hero-greatness which awakened the admiration of -earlier times. This admiration has not entirely died out, but it is -fading away, sinking out of sight, slowly changing into detestation. -Much that is barbarous still lives amongst us, but we try to deny it. -The word ‘barbarous’ has become a term of reproach. The man who knows no -pity does not seem to us worthy of regard; the wider the range of his -commiseration, the nobler is his heart. The good will of a noble soul -extends even to the dumb creation. He who cannot love a good, faithful -dog is not a worthy man, and whoever is cruel to an animal—how can I -express my detestation of him?—well, I will quote Hermann Bahr—‘Such a -person, whoever he be, I cannot regard as my kind.’ In the third -‘Kingdom’ to which our aspirations are soaring, there is no room for -barbarism. - -“And now, if as our host desires, I must sum up in one phrase all that I -have brought to you here, then I say:—There is no High Thinking without -likewise Kind Thinking.” - -“The man has a touch of the feminine in his make-up,” remarked some one -in the audience, disapprovingly. - -The next speaker was Franka Garlett. With a smiling face, betraying the -gleam of her new happiness, she stepped forward: “You young girls, -listen to me!” she began. “You must not be alarmed, because I repeat my -appeal to you, that I am going to repeat my entire address. No, I am not -going even to make a resumé of it, but I am going to say something which -will interest all girls, all, all! There is a magic word which will not -find one of you indifferent: if it is spoken you must listen—joyfully or -woefully, with curiosity or with yearning, but never with -indifference ... and yet it is something quite simple, quite -commonplace. Truly, the one whom it concerns will find it unique, will -find it all-important, something world-convulsing—that world which is -our own little Ego. This thing has happened to me this morning—and I -cannot help myself—it fills me so—I must tell you, ye sisters of mine:—I -am betrothed.” - -A flutter went through the hall. Among the inarticulate words also rang -out distinctly, “Congratulations!” and the question—“To whom?” - -Franka’s face grew still more animated: “Thanks for the congratulations, -and, if I heard correctly, some one asked ‘To whom?’—a quite justifiable -curiosity: in such family chronicles we must find names. My chosen -husband is the poet of ‘Schwingen’—Chlodwig Helmer. And since he, as he -told you a moment ago, has a kind feeling for every worthy little -beastie, he will assuredly be kind to me.” - -The speaker’s gayety communicated itself to the audience, and a wave of -laughter swept over the hall. But now her features took on a serious -expression and in altered voice she went on:—“But here another question -demands to be answered: How is it that I venture to speak of my own -little private affairs from this tribune where such lofty problems have -been treated and when a whole world is listening to me? I justify myself -thus: On this tribune I have advised the young persons of my own sex to -use their brains, to learn, to see clearly in scientific, social, and -political matters; even to take part in public affairs, and this has -certainly awakened in many minds the notion that woman, in doing so, -would suffer a loss in her affections and in her family relations; that -those young girls who might devote themselves to studies and callings -hitherto reserved for men alone, might be lost for love and domestic -happiness. On this very spot from which I have disseminated my -teachings, and before the very same listening world-audience, I now come -forward to combat that erroneous notion; not in words, but as a living -witness. The doctrine that ‘You are in the world to share in all -thought’ cannot be so very perilous since the exponent of it stands -here, happily betrothed.” - -She bowed and went back to her seat, heartily cheered by the audience. - -Now, one after the other, brief parting farewell addresses were made and -each speaker gave pregnant expression to his favorite and leading -thought. All these thoughts, without exception, were turned by different -ways in the one direction: _Excelsior!_ - -Then Toker announced that he would speak the final word, but first they -would enjoy the usual intermission. This was employed by the speakers -and the audience in unrestrained social intercourse. Here are a few -snatches of conversation:— - -Bruning, hurrying up to Helmer:—“Most heartfelt and respectful -congratulations, my young genius! My old dream and good advice are -fulfilled. You have won her—the pretty heiress; you snatched her away -just in time from the prince who was so madly in love with her! Superb!” - -“I shall have to withdraw my friendship from you, Franz! You have a -trick of blighting everything in bloom.” - -“And you of talking in exalted figures. We shall not let our -twenty-years-old good-fellowship drop for that! There have to be -different kinds of owls!” - - -In a group of politicians:— - -A. “Don’t you find that there is a little too much preaching of morality -to us during this Rose-Week? Of course we know that the destinies of the -nations are not fulfilled in accordance with moral laws, that they are -not conducted by ethical impulses, but that they obey economical -necessities.” - -B. “Economical necessities? Yes, but not wholly so. One is usually -mistaken if one tries to reduce complicated phenomena to one single -factor. For instance: Did the crusades take place because of economic -causes?” - -C. “I should like to make one observation. Morality is nothing else than -the result of the recognized conditions of collective life. When two or -more are dependent on one another, then the conduct which promotes their -welfare is elevated to the rank of a moral rule, and whatever impedes it -is proscribed as immoral. The nations have treated one another -unlovingly and immorally, because they have as yet no realization of -their interdependence. Have you, for instance, ever entered into any -ethical relationship with the inhabitants of Mars?” - -In the corner where the two Russian widows were sitting with their -suitors, the marchese whispering in his soft fervid Italian:— - -“Annette, gracious lady, what have you done to me? The blood is storming -through my veins as if I were a boy. I quite forget my advancing years. -You can make me forget everything.... I could even renounce my ambition -in order to give myself up forever to the sweet intoxication which I -find in your eyes. But no, just for your sake I will get as much glory -as I possibly can.... The man who is to be worthy of you must be like -the sun in the radiance of his glorious power, the head that rests in -your lap must be crowned with laurel. You, madonna, must be surrounded -with splendor, you must be raised to the highest rank so that all may -look up to you in worship and envy. A world must tremble before the man -who trembles before you.... There is no price which I would not pay, no -deed that I would not venture, no multitude that I would not sacrifice -relentlessly, merely to place one more pearl in your diadem, Monna -Anna.” - -The little Baltic widow quivered under this avalanche of sweet-brutal -cinquecento phrases. - -Baron Gaston de la Rochère came up and joined the group, putting an end -to this sentimental cooing:— - -“I have just arrived. Am I very late? I don’t understand the English and -German speeches and the French guests present are distasteful to me. But -I came to look you up, for I must share my happiness with you. I have -just received by the evening mail some wonderful news from Paris. Just -imagine: things are coming to a climax. The Ministry—that bunch of -heretics—has fallen. Perhaps God will take his France under his -protection again. The situation is so threatening that external or -domestic war may break out any minute, and this is the favorable moment -to proclaim royalty. My friends write me that everything is all ready, -that even a part of the garrison is won over to swear fealty to the -standard of the king—in short, great events are impending. The genius of -my glorious country has awakened once more. Of course, you already know -all about these circumstances, Marchese di Rinotti?” - -“Of course, I know what is taking place and what is proposed; but weeks -must elapse before anything decisive can come about. The men in charge -must reckon with the resistance of the democratic parties.” - -“But the men in charge will act with vigor, Marchese.” - -“Well, I hope so, Baron.” - -“Oh, gentlemen,” said Vera Petrovna, beseechingly; “don’t be tedious; -pray don’t talk politics.” - -Malhof accosted Franka and Helmer, who, arm in arm, were promenading up -and down the corridors. “Am I interrupting the gushing fountains of -love? You will have all your lives for that, and I must express my -surprise and delight. I am, indeed, a very old friend and admirer of -your betrothed, dear Helmer, and I have always desired her happiness.... -How unexpectedly this came upon us! Yesterday evening, while they were -manipulating with radium on the platform, we three sat so cozily -together, and I had not the slightest idea of your being a bridal pair. -You played your cards mighty well, you young people!” - -“Neither did we have the slightest idea,” protested the two in absolute -sincerity. - - -After the half-hour’s intermission, Toker again mounted the -platform—quite alone; his guests remaining below in the hall. - -“It is my privilege,” he began, “to utter the last word in conclusion of -this our Rose-Week. I feel myself compelled to express before the whole -world my deepest thanks to the illustrious contemporaries who have come -at my call. And I must also thank you, my honored audience, for the -lively interest and the sympathetic reception which you have accorded -our offerings. - -“But let us end our coöperation not with a discourse, but rather with a -deed. You all know that a war-cloud pregnant with storm is rising on the -horizon. We must not allow this well-worn metaphor to strengthen the -current impression that we have to deal with anything elementary; we -have to deal with human intentions, with the direction of human wills. -These can be paralyzed by counter-intentions, by the putting forth of -still stronger wills. Such an exercise of will-power has been created in -our circle: in order to make it efficient, we must use the apparatus of -wide publicity which is here at our service. Two statesmen, of -uncontested reputation in their service for promoting the organization -of peace in the Old World and the New, have drawn up a manifesto, -protesting against the letting loose of the war-demon which is planned -in various quarters, and at the same time pointing out the way in which -the conflict may be solved in an amicable manner. This manifesto has -been signed by the entire membership of the Rose Order, and at this -moment is being telegraphed to all regions of the world. If the masses -agree to it, it can grow into a hurricane of public opinion. I am not -going to delay you by reading the message, the paper which will now be -distributed through the hall contains its text. I also refrain from any -explanations; neither shall I ask you to vote. Only this I will say: If -this wish, this command, this storm-cry which goes forth from here is -obeyed, that is to say, if the approaching contest is submitted to -arbitration, and if the decision by force is given up, though, indeed, -this may not prevent the recurrence of dangers in the future, and not as -yet introduce a new political order—still, time will be gained. And that -is the main thing in this crisis. For in order to appreciate and to -apply the new treasures which of late have been won from nature, in -order to cultivate the lofty thoughts to which the human mind has -already begun to attain in its flights, and in order to transform in -accordance with these thoughts the intercourse, the laws, the opinions -of men, in a word, the whole social life, _time_ is above all required. -A time of peaceful, quiet development. If now a world-conflagration -should break out, the development would be not only delayed, but would -be set back enormously—instead of a lofty flight, we should have a -terrible fall! Once more a bed for the stream of hatred and horror and -destruction would be excavated, and this flood might carry away with it -all that has been so painfully constructed. - -“One can formulate an idea of the consequences of such a conflagration -by hearing what H. G. Wells tells us in his ‘War in the Air.’ ‘Oh, a -piece of fiction, a romance of the future!’ Granted, it will all come -out differently. No one can take account of all the millions of -interweaving threads out of which the web of the future may be woven. -But the poet and the thinker, if he creates such pictures, does not at -all pretend prophecy. He does not predict that it will come in this way -or that: he only shows how under given conditions things must come, if -this way or that is chosen. - -“So, then, we want to gain time!—time for the building-up of future -happiness, time to rescue men from the woe that threatens. Indeed, the -majority will not listen to the warning, the chiding, the aid-promising -voices ... these annoying calls only disturb them in their pursuits of -business, work, pleasure.... ‘Why don’t the birds of evil omen leave us -alone—let things take their course—what comes must come—merely let every -one see to it that he does his work where Fate puts him’ ... this is -about the way in which the passive resistance expresses itself; a -resistance against which all those who speak the warning words -constantly stumble. But they are not to be frightened away; they cannot -help themselves, they must speak. - -“I will use a parable:— - -“Let us imagine we are on a noble ship bound for the promised land. The -journey is long. There is much work and much amusement on board of the -ship. It must be steered and must be maneuvered; much promenading and -flirting and reading and feasting are carried on; all are busy and each -one thinks his work or his pleasures highly important. - -“But the ship springs a leak. If help is not afforded, the proud vessel -must sink. - -“It would not be difficult to get help. But the people refuse to see the -leak. Is it not natural that those who do see it should not weary in -calling for help? Is it not the height of unreason that the others -should leave the leak unheeded, so that they may not be disturbed in -their customary pursuits, and that they should zealously devote -themselves to steering and clearing the ship instead of trying first of -all to save it from sinking? - -“Our civilization is such a ship, my honored fellow-passengers. Its -engines are working better all the time, its flags are flying ever more -triumphantly, swelling out with lofty thoughts. But it has a -leak—namely, the time antiquate régime of force: through this rent -annihilating floods pour in and threaten to draw it into the deep! -Therefore, every man on board and all hands to the repair of the damage! - -“And when that has been accomplished—and it shall be accomplished!—then -onward, and ‘happy voyage!’” - - - THE END - - - - - =The Riverside Press= - - CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS - - U . S . A - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - 4. 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