Here I am, sitting in camp, and writing like a schoolmaster. But it has done me good. I feel collected, refreshed, and strengthened while turning my thoughts to you.
[Roland to the Professorin.]
We have been beaten! Mother, we have been beaten! Eric consoles me and consoles us all; he says that it is good for us, we must learn to stand the brunt. Well, I will learn.
(Eric's Postscript.) Mother! I found these lines which Roland left behind, and I send them to you. Roland is missing, and has either fallen or been taken prisoner; he has borne himself bravely, and had been promoted to be an officer. O my Roland!
[Eric to Weidmann.]
In Camp.
The great, the necessary step has been taken; the negroes have been called to serve in the army, and we have enlisted in a negro regiment,—Roland, Hermann, and I. Now the contest is for the first time complete. The negroes show themselves willing and docile, and are always merry. This discipline of the army is an excellent preparatory school for life.
We have learned from one of our spies that a man who calls himself Banfield, but who from the description I think is Sonnenkamp, is in the army in front of us, and with him there is a woman in man's dress, a great beauty, who receives the homage of all. I had hoped that he would enter the Navy; it is horrible to me that he and his son are now fighting in hostile ranks, so directly face to face with each other. I trust that Roland will hear nothing of it.
But it is very pleasant to see the beautiful comradeship of Roland and your grand-nephew, Hermann; they are inseparable.
[Roland to the Professorin.]