The men assented eagerly, but the Finanzrath was not satisfied. "I should suppose," he said, peevishly, "that I might be attended to before John. I cannot possibly walk. When the men have carried me to Hohenwald they can return and fetch John."
His brother greeted this speech with a glance of contempt. "If you cannot walk," he said, coolly, "you can sit here! The old man's life, perhaps, depends upon his having surgical aid speedily."
"I cannot stay here in the pouring rain; I shall catch my death of cold!"
"Death is not easily caught of cold!" Arno rejoined, unsympathetically. "Make haste," he said to the men, who were busy constructing the litter. "Poor old John must be moved as quickly as possible."
"How far are we from Hohenwald?" the Finanzrath asked, when the litter was nearly completed.
"Three-quarters of a league from the castle and half a league from the village."
"Then the manor-house of Grünhagen must be close at hand."
"Grünhagen is not ten minutes' walk."
"Indeed? Then, Arno, I think it would be much wiser to carry John there, and I could manage to hobble there myself."
"You would go to Grünhagen?" Arno asked, and there was surprise as well as disapproval in his tone. "What business has a Hohenwald in Grünhagen? Am I to ask shelter for old John and for you of the Amtsrath Friese or young Kurt von Poseneck, only to meet with a rude refusal, or, what would be worse, with a condescending compliance, which would burden me with an obligation to them?"