CHAPTER II.
The next morning Alf stepped into the apartment of his kinsman, Gerhard Kippenbrock, to salute him. The good old man, a worthy butcher by calling, had by the overthrow of all established customs been made second burgomaster of the imperial free city of Munster, without clearly knowing how that precise result had been attained. He advanced to meet the new comer, uncommonly magnificent in his black official dress, with the lace collar and golden chain of honor, and introduced him to a large, raw-boned, meagre man, in a similar dress, who sat at the table staring on vacancy with half-extinguished eyes, in which the flashes of a quiet insanity were occasionally playing.
'Thou hast here the best opportunity to recommend thyself to the favor of our first burgomaster, of brother Bernd Knipperdolling,' said the elder Kippenbrock to the youth. Alf bowed himself low before the singular man, whose appearance affected him disagreeably, and stammered some expressions of respect.
Knipperdolling cast upon him a searching glance, and then said in a hollow and monotonous voice, 'a well formed vessel for the spirit!--thy kinsman, my brother? He may become a bailiff of the city of Zion.'
'God preserve me, revered sir burgomaster!' protested Alf. 'I by no means understand all that the office requires, and should disgrace my undeserved promotion.'
'Whoever hath the spirit,' said Knipperdolling, decisively, 'needs no earthly wisdom.'
'I have taken upon myself a holy duty!' exclaimed the youth with anxiety, shuddering at the burthen of the proffered dignity. 'I have promised to the unfortunate Trutlinger on his death-bed, to take upon myself the care of his two nieces, whom he left unprotected. I shall have plenty to do,--for six journeymen are employed in the workshop of the orphans, and much work is ordered.'
'Let him have his will,' entreated the elder Kippenbrock of his colleague. 'I have known him from his youth up; his head is not equal to the governing of lands and people, but he is a capable armorer, whom we much need in these times when our all rests upon the points of our swords.'
'Have you already been baptised?' asked Knipperdolling.
'Your faith became mine at Amsterdam,' answered Alf, but I have postponed being baptised until I could receive that holy ordinance here, in my native city.'
'Our orator, brother Rothman, will prepare you for it,' said Knipperdolling.
'I hope this brother has already laid a good ground,' said a man in a black ministerial robe, with a cunning, bold, peaked face. 'I shall hold a great baptizing one of these days at the river Aa, and shall expect to see the catechumen previously at my house.'
'We will be his witnesses on that holy occasion,' said Knipperdolling, with a gracious nod of his head, 'I and my colleague Kippenbrock.'
The candidate for baptism stammered his thanks for the unexpected honor, when the door of the room was thrown open with violence, and a young man of Alf's age strode fiercely in. His countenance might have been considered handsome, had it not been for the deathlike paleness and distortion which disfigured it. His large and restlessly rolling eyes--his dishevelled, bristling hair--his loose coarse garments, which scarcely covered the nakedness of his body--all these gave to his figure a frightful appearance; and Alf was thereby reminded, with a secret shudder, of the altar-piece of a church, where he had seen the adversary represented as tempting our Savior in the wilderness. All present rose reverently at his entrance, and, with their hands crossed upon their breasts, bowed low before the youth.
'Thus speaks the spirit by the mouth of your prophets,' cried he with singular gestures. 'Make outcry in all the streets of Zion, that every one bring all his wealth in gold, silver and jewels, and lay it at the feet of the great prophet, Matthias. There must no longer be rich or poor in the community which the Lord has chosen for himself. Let all belong to all!'
'So mote it be,' cried the hearers, and a gentle sigh from the rich butcher accompanied the response.
'A true christian needs no erudition,' continued he prophet. 'The internal word is of more value than the outward. All books written with the insolent wisdom of men are fruitless and unprofitable, if the doctrines they contain are already proved in the holy scriptures,-- ungodly, if they are opposed to them. Wherefore you must bring all books, except the bible, out of Zion, and collect them at the market before St. Lambert's church, and cause them to be consumed by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord.'
'So mote it be!' again submissively repeated all mouths.
'Whoever sins against one of these commands, roared the prophet, with wild flashing eyes, 'shall die the death!'
'Amen!' said the trembling chorus, and the prophet stalked haughtily out of the door.
'Who was that!' Alf timidly asked his kinsman. 'Johannes Bockhold, our second prophet,' answered he, dejectedly, 'the right hand of the great Matthias.'
'All the books!' sighed the orator Rothman.
'All the gold and silver!' sighed the worthy Kippenbrock, after him, involuntarily raising his hand to his head, as if for the purpose of scratching it, but recollecting in season that this movement was rather unseemly for a new burgomaster, he quickly let it fall again.
'The Lord wills it, and his servants must be obedient,' said Knipperdolling to Kippenbrock. 'Let the commands of the prophet be proclaimed, my brother. I have yet much to do with recording the estates of the exiles, which have become forfeit to the community!'
He departed, and Rothman followed him. 'All the gold and silver!' repeated the elder Kippenbrock sorrowfully, yet once more, and he went after them.
'God forgive me if this feeling be a sin,' cried Alf, when he saw himself alone; 'but these prophets appear horrible to me, and I shall never be able to reconcile my heart to them.'