The wanderings and fortunes of some German emigrantsGerstäcker, Friedrich
General
The wanderings and fortunes of some German emigrants
Gerstäcker, Friedrich
Germany -- Emigration and immigration -- Fiction; Immigrants -- Fiction
The sheriff, accompanied by two constables, had taken away Dr. Normann
to the county town, but the settlers found themselves, in consequence,
involved in infinite trouble, for almost every one of those who had
taken part in the pursuit and capture of that scoundrel was summoned to
give evidence upon oath, before the court; even Bertha and Louisa had to
go there, and Wolfgang subsequently often expressed his opinion that it
would have been better to have allowed him to pursue the course which he
had wished to take, and then there would have been no occasion for all
this trouble; Pastor Hehrmann, on the other hand, declared that he
willingly submitted to it all, for that his conscience could not now
accuse him of shedding, or of being party to the shedding of human
blood.
Dr. Normann, or Wæhler, as his name was discovered to be at the trial,
was found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment
in the House of Correction; it is true, that he subsequently appealed to
the court of the United States, but without obtaining a more favourable
result, and in the early part of the following year, he was delivered
over in irons to the penitentiary of the state.
But how did it fare with the settlers, now that they had arrived in the
foreign, but much-wished-for country? Alas, ill enough! At first,
Helldorf and Schwarz had taken the greatest pains to induce them to
migrate to a healthier district, and that without further loss of time,
but the good folks would only profit by experience, and would first pass
through every successive stage of expectation deceived and hope
destroyed; without which practical lessons, Germans seldom follow
advice. As Helldorf and Schwarz, therefore, soon discovered that further
persuasion was not merely useless, but would even tend to confirm the
obstinate people in their stupid resolution, they gave up preaching of
colours to the blind, who could not see or comprehend them. Werner, on
the other hand, brought into nearer contact with the Hehrmanns, and
emboldened by his adventures and good fortune, sued for the little hand
of the dear, blushing Bertha, and the parents gave their cheerful and
willing assent, on condition that he should settle among them, and, like
themselves, become a farmer. Mindful, however, of the warnings of his
friends, and unwilling, besides, to cultivate a spot where the
inexperienced Germans had been banished by the fraud of a
fellow-countryman, he begged them to grant him a year's delay till he
should have founded a little home for himself, when he would fetch bride
and parents together, and would, with willing heart, work hard, in order
to have all the dear ones beside him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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