The musical clock in the next room never played more or sweeter melodies, than at this moment sounded in Franzl's heart; she could have sung and danced from joy—she stared at the fire and laughed, and then she again looked out of the kitchen window after the Landlady. "What an admirable woman that is,—the most looked up to in the whole country, and yet she said herself, that I was her good old friend!"
When Franzl laid the cloth for dinner in the next room, she looked once more into the glass, like a girl just come home from a ball; she wished to see how Franzl looked—the Landlady's good old friend! She could not swallow a morsel of the comfortable dinner she had prepared; her appetite was satisfied—more than satisfied—for she had swallowed the fat Landlady whole.
CHAPTER XII.
A GOOD ESCORT, AND THOUGHTS OF THE FUTURE.
"It is all ready now," said Lenz aloud, though he was alone in the room. "May you arrive safe!" He had been engaged in unscrewing the work, as it was to be brought down into the valley in different pieces, and the large framework to be carried on a handbarrow by men, for there was no carriage road to Lenz's house. The two enemies, Pilgrim and Petrowitsch, met beside the waggon in the valley, beside which Lenz was standing, busily engaged in packing securely the different parts of the instrument.
On one side of the waggon Petrowitsch was saying—"I know the man who has purchased your musical clock, he is one of my best friends in Odessa, and a most worthy respectable person. If you had any sense, you would go too, and exhibit the instrument in Odessa; and then you would be sure to get at least seven new orders.
"I have already got a fresh one," said Lenz.
On the other side of the waggon. Pilgrim said—"Lenz, let us escort the 'Magic Flute' part of the way, and we can return in good time this evening."
"I should like it very much, for I feel sure I can't work any more today."