At the same time, he swore at the workmen at the mill, who had allowed themselves to be influenced by Funk. He declared that they were even capable of voting against me. Carl said that, as far as his two brothers were concerned, it was true. They had been expelled from Alsace, had received employment in Ludwig's mill, and now publicly said that they would give their votes to Funk.
At the meeting, it happened just as Joseph had predicted. Schweitzer-Schmalz stepped forward and declared that a man like himself could not leave his large estate and go to Berlin; they should, therefore, give the votes intended for him, to that intrepid man of the people--Funk.
But now something happened that took us all by surprise. Funk mounted the rostrum. He laid it down that a constitution without fundamental rights was a farce, and it cut me to the quick when he dared to add, "We uphold the old German flag--the sacred flag of freedom--immaculate, and shall not desert our colors."
In conclusion, he said. "I implore you not to call on me now. The time will come when they must call us to save our liberties; that time has not yet arrived.
"For the present, we will leave the pseudo-Prussian to the undisturbed enjoyment of the national beggars' broth filled with imperial dumplings, which is being served up in the famous spiked helmet.
"I thank you," he cried, when the yelling which followed this speech had somewhat abated, "for the votes with which you honor me. I esteem them highly, but we must wait. So let us bide our time."
Joseph prevented me from answering. He mounted the stand, and said that Herr Funk deserved all possible praise for his shrewdness. He knew that he could not be successful, and had therefore declined, in order to try his chances at some future time. "Herr Funk waits; we, too, can wait."
I was elected by a large majority; and the walk homeward, surrounded by my electors, was one of the happiest hours of my life. It was even more joyful than when, twenty-three years earlier, I was elected a delegate to Frankfort. I forgot my anxiety about Richard.
When I took leave of Rothfuss at the railway station, he held me by the hand, a long while, and said: "Oh master, if it was only not so far to Berlin, you should have taken me along, anyhow. Keep yourself well, right well; and don't drink any water; Willem says there is good wine to be had at Berlin, too."
A tear glistened in his eye, and the leave-taking from this faithful companion moved me deeply. He had never before been so anxious and concerned about me.