"An idiot, nothing but a stupid boy," cried Jokisch angrily, full of envy. They were all envious. But Schmielke, the man of the world, consoled himself and the others by saying, "Who knows whose turn it may be next, now that she has begun?" So they all pinned their faith to that. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Tiralla tottered slowly down the village street. The sun was glowing so that the dust which flew up in clouds as he shuffled along glistened before his lowered face as though it were mingled with gold. He neither heard nor saw anything, and he was not thinking, either. After passing the last cottage in Starawies, he mechanically took the parched track across the fields in the direction of home. The early summer sun was shining down on the immense plains; the fine-looking ears of corn that swayed to and fro were already about as high as a man. The clover lay cut in the meadows, and emitted a powerful smell as it dried quickly in the sun. The air was full of a continuous buzzing of insects that glistened like gold, and of the trills of invisible larks. The blessing of a promising harvest lay spread over the broad fields as far as Starydwór, and everywhere [Pg 222] as far as the eye could see. But Mr. Tiralla's heart did not rejoice as a farmer's should have done. He did not look about him, nor care whether the oats and wheat were getting on, and whether the rye was beginning to turn pale. He pressed his hat further down on his forehead and shuffled along a little more rapidly. Marianna should bring him something at once to his room. He would lock himself in; he had not had his daily quantity yet, those confounded fellows had disturbed him. He still felt very out of sorts. "Mr. Tiralla! Mr. Tiralla!" shouted somebody behind him. He did not hear. Then somebody seized him by the coat as he reached the Bo[^z]a meka which stands at the cross-roads. Mr. Tiralla turned round in terror--was it she? Ah, it was only the schoolmaster. He gave a sigh of relief. "Why do you hurry so, Mr. Tiralla?" said Böhnke in a breathless voice. "You were almost running. I saw you in the distance when you left the village, and I've been racing behind you the whole way." "Why did you do that?" asked Mr. Tiralla. "I want to be alone, I must be alone, I'm safest when I'm quite alone." Then he sighed again, and his swollen eyes glimmered as he cast a restless look around. The schoolmaster sighed too; dear, dear, the man was quite out of his mind. It must be true what they were saying in Starawies, that Becker had become Mrs. Tiralla's lover. Confound it! "May I offer you my arm, Mr. Tiralla?" he said, going close up to him. "You're walking badly." "No, no--no, no!" cried the stout man, keeping the schoolmaster off as though he were afraid of him. [Pg 223] And then he added in a gruff voice, as he saw that he would not be repulsed, "_Psia krew_, what do you want? Go to the devil, little Böhnke."