Bess had selected the pickle. The little German gave them no more attention, but darted out from behind the counter to meet Frau Deuseldorf as she entered the shop. He waved the letter he had been reading excitedly, and began in high-pitched German to tell his wife the news—and news of trouble it was, indeed, as the two American girls could understand.
Both Bess and Nan had studied German a year before they came to the Hall, and rapidly as the little man talked they could understand much that he said. The slower replies of his startled wife they could likewise apprehend.
Nan and Bess clung together near the door, hesitating to depart, for Mister Frau Deuseldorf had not given Bess her change.
Hans was in trouble—serious trouble. His brother, Fritz, wrote that it would take all the old couple’s little savings to save Hans from disgrace; and one brother’s disgrace would seriously affect the career of the other.
“And perhaps I have offended the good Dr. Prescott this very day,” cried Frau Deuseldorf. “You know how it was at that other school last year, Henry.” (The German teacher had only been at Lakeview Hall half a year before this present term.) “Dr. Prescott, too, is very, very stern. She entered my classroom, with friends, just as one of those thoughtless girls had made me excited. The room was in a turmoil—Ach! it would be terrible now if the doctor requested my resignation.”
Nan drew Bess outside into the street. “Never mind the change, Bessie,” she begged.
“Oh! I’m so ashamed of myself,” sighed Bess. “I never knew people had so much trouble. And those sons are men grown!”
“Their children, just the same. But I know she is over-anxious about her position. I don’t suppose the little shop earns them very much. It is probably her salary at the school which goes to Germany. Oh, my dear! you don’t suppose Dr. Beulah is angry with Frau Deuseldorf because she does not keep good order in her classes? We do bother her a lot.”
Bess was very serious. “I know I do,” she admitted. “Sometimes it’s fun to plague her—she gets excited so easily, and forgets her polite English.”
“We mustn’t any more,” said Nan.