CHAPTER XIII.
Only gradually did I clearly comprehend all that had happened to me.
I can no longer count the shots, nor specify whence or by whom they were discharged against me, and how it was that I remained unharmed. But I have passed through it all, and must also permit you to experience it.
Rothfuss related to me, very composedly, that he had done Carl injustice; one might be imprisoned, although innocent, and it happened to him with horse and wagon. He and the bays had been captured by the wild Turcos, and he had almost fancied himself in hell while with those savages, who did not even know how to talk intelligibly.
"Sir! they would have shot me for a spy. They placed me against the wall. And there I stand and they aim at me. I take a last look at the sky and the trees, something dims my sight, and I think to myself, if it were only over! Then some one calls out, 'Halt!' And I think I recognize the voice. He talks gibberish, of which I do not comprehend a word, but they don't shoot. He orders me to be tied tighter. And there I lie in a miserable stall and can't stir. And then comes some one sneaking along, and whispers, 'Keep yourself quiet, Rothfuss.' And who do you think it is? Our Ernst. And then we cried together, like little children, and Ernst said, 'Keep yourself quiet! What I have been through, couldn't be told in a thousand years. Now come with me!' And for a long while there we were, creeping along the ground like frogs, until we reached the horses, which were fastened outside. To unloose them, spring upon them, and gallop away, took but a moment. The French fired at us, but they didn't hit us, and away we went until we reached our lines, and there Ernst said to me, 'You once passed for my brother Ludwig; now do as much for me! Give me your clothes!'"
Rothfuss had to give him his blue blouse. Then Ernst transferred his horse to him, and said, "Leave me now! we will soon meet again."
Rothfuss was about relating how he had found Martella, when she entered. She had become very thin, but otherwise unchanged; was gayly attired, and cried out as she perceived me: "Oh! father, happily met again! To-day is Ernst's wedding-day, and my Sunday, my greatest holiday, my ascension-day."
She offered no excuse for having run away; she made no mention of her recent experiences, and as I could not avoid telling her what pain and anxiety she had occasioned me, she exclaimed, "I know it better than you can tell me; but indulge me for to-day: to-morrow, when I have Ernst by the hand, we will set everything straight. He rescued Carl, who would have bled to death, if he had not found him.
"Ernst carried him; yes, he is strong; he brought him all the way here. His face, his hands, his clothes, were all full of blood. But that doesn't hurt; it can all be washed off. Everything can be washed away if one is sound within; and now everything, everything will be washed away.
"Now I heard that Ernst had come to the regiment in which Carl was. He introduced himself as a German with the name of Frohn." Martella added, "That is the name of a comrade, who on the voyage threw himself in despair into the sea."
Ernst had declared that he would not fight against his countrymen, but with them against the French. What proofs of loyalty he was submitted to have never been made known to me. He was uniformed and placed at a post of danger, where a strict watch could be kept upon him. He conducted himself bravely, and when Carl was struck, he rescued him at the risk of his own life. But he was never recognized, and none but Carl, Martella, and Rothfuss knew who he was.
They had, during the night, heard of my arrival, and Ernst had stood guard before the house for hours. Martella had shown him the letter of pardon; but he exclaimed that he wished no pardon, and would not examine the letter.
Martella begged him to show himself to me. But he said, "I know of how many nights of rest I have robbed my father; I will not now disturb his slumbers, and will for the first time appear before him, and clasp his knees, when by I have done something to show him what I am at heart. When I come out of the battle, I will go to my father: then I can look him in the face."
"Right, right," said Martella; "if you go into the fight with such thoughts, you will surely come out of it safe and sound, and your mother in heaven will stretch her hands in blessings over you."
"My mother in heaven? Is she dead?"
"Didn't you know it? Alas! already over three years; she died upon your birth-day."
"On my birth-day!" He said this, and was then for a long time silent. Then again he said, "I think I dare not kiss you again to-day."
"Your mother loved you to her latest breath, and she kissed me just before she died."
"He sighed heavily and then kissed me," said Martella, "Only once again; for the last time. No, not for the last time! he must live!"
Just as Ernst had again gone away, there came the order to march immediately without baggage. The people never knew beforehand when there was to be a battle; but such a command naturally gave rise to anticipations of a fight.
As Martella turned away, while Ernst prepared for his departure, she heard the voice of Rothfuss, who told the baker Lerz that his bays were ruined, but that he had received two fine Burgundians in exchange.