Karl seemed to sleep; it was evident that, as no blood flowed to it, the
brain was in a state of torpor; but every time a spoonful of syrup of
digitalis was placed in his mouth he absorbed it better. Benedict's work
was to renew the ice which dripped upon the arm, washing the wound made
first by the cuirassier's sabre and then by the doctor's lancet.
Towards eight in the morning Emma came into the room for news of the
wounded man. She found Helen asking Benedict for more ice. He was an
entire stranger to Emma, but by a flash of intuition she guessed him to
be the man who had spared her husband's life. She was thanking him when
Hans came to announce Fellner. The worthy man was afraid that the
Prussians would break into the house, and came to offer his services.
While they were talking, Frederic arrived with the news that his general
was only five minutes behind him.
Nothing can describe Emma's joy and happiness in seeing Frederic. The
war was nearly over, rumours of peace became stronger, her Frederic was
then out of danger. Love is egoistic, scarcely had she thought of what
was happening in the city; the entry of the Prussians, their exactions,
their imposts, their brutalities, the death of Herr Fischer; all these
seemed vague--a letter from Frederic had been the important event.
Frederic: it was he whom she embraced. He was safe and sound, unwounded,
and no longer in danger. Keenly interested as she was in her sister and
Karl and their mutual love, she felt how fortunate Frederic was that he
was not Karl.
Frederic went up to Karl, who recognized him and smiled.
While General Sturm ate a splendid dinner, Frederic, to whom Benedict
had whispered a few words about the behaviour of the Prussians at
Frankfort, went out to judge for himself. He was told that the Senate
was sitting and he went in. The Senate declared that the demand made
upon it being impossible of fulfilment it submitted itself to the
general's clemency.
On leaving the Senate, Frederic saw the cannon trained on the town, the
crowds round all the posted bills. He saw besides, entire families
driven from their homes by the Prussians, bivouacking on the open
spaces. The men were swearing, the women were in tears. A mother was
calling for vengeance, as she tended her child of ten, through whose arm
a bayonet had been thrust. Without knowing what he did the unfortunate
child had followed a Prussian, singing the song that the people of
Sachsenhausen had made on the Prussians:
Warte, kuckuck, warte
Bald kommt Bonaparte
Der wird alles wieder holen
Was ihr hobt bei uns gestohlen.[1]
The Prussian had used his bayonet on the lad. But instead of consoling
the mother and calling for vengeance with her, the passers-by had signed
to her to be quiet, to dry her tears and wipe the blood away; so great
was the general terror.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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